My Name is Maria Isabel

My Name is Maria Isabel
By: Alma Flor Ada
Illustrated by: K. Dyle Thompson
Realistic Fiction

This book is about the story of a young girl whose family moves from Puerto Rico to a new town. When they move, Maria Isabel is sad about leaving her friends and nervous about attending a new school. On her first day of school her teacher decides that because there are already two students named Maria in the class she will call her Mary Lopez. Her full name is Maria Isabel Salazar Lopez, all which are names she got from relatives. Every time her teacher calls on her or asks her a question, she becomes angry with Maria Isabel because she doesn't respond. Maria becomes embarrassed and misses out on opportunities, including the school play because she isn't used to being called Mary Lopez and therefore doesn't know when the teacher is calling on her. Maria Isabel struggles with finding someone to talk to about the issue. A couple days before the play her teacher asks the class to write a paper called "My greatest wish..." Maria Isabel takes this as the opportunity to say she wishes she could be called Maria Isabel Salazar Lopez so that she won't have to miss out on things like being in the play. After reading her paper, the teacher calls her by her real name and ask her to sing in the play.

This book would be great to show students how hard it can be to stand up for yourself. You can use this as an opportunity to talk to your students about finding someone to talk to when something is bothering them. It could be great to read this book on one of the first days of school and let your students know that if they ever have a problem they can come to you. It is also a good book for teachers, because it shows how important it is to ask your students what names they prefer to be called. Students could participate in a group discussion and share something interesting about their name or where it came from. You could even have your students make their own name tags for what they would like you to call them.