Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish

By Pablo Cartaya, Viking BFYR, 2018, Middle Grade Fiction for ages 10+

Marcus is big for his age. Kids at his middle school usually either mistake him for an adult or run away in fear he’s going to beat them up. He’s used his size to build a business: He protects kids from school bully, Stephen—for a fee. He also collects money for keeping kids from being cited for school policy infractions, like littering and cell phone usage. It isn’t nice that kids pay him just so he won’t tattle, but it is nice to be able to add to the Cookie Monster Cash and help his mom with emergencies at home.

But when Stephen takes his bullying one step too far by calling Marcus’s brother Charlie, who has Down Syndrome, the “r” word, Marcus does just what everyone’s always been afraid of. He punches Stephen. Marcus’s mom decides it’s time to take the boys away for a while to visit their absent father’s family in Puerto Rico. Marcus decides it’s time to meet his dad, certain if they can just see him again he’ll help the family with their money problems.

Once in Puerto Rico, Marcus and Charlie meet family they didn’t even know they had, and see a side of their mom, carefree and adventurous, they hadn’t known existed. But Marcus is intent on finding his dad, which risks spoiling the mood. You’ll have to read the book to find out if things go the way Marcus hopes.

Setting as character

The settings in this story are treated as supporting characters. The library at school where Marcus handles his business starts out a little dark and suffocating. Their small town near Philadelphia feels isolated but sort of labyrinthine. Puerto Rico is overwhelming, foreign, shaky. Just like the primary, human characters, the settings change by the end of the story. Of course this is because we’re viewing them through Marcus’s eyes, and by the end of the story Marcus has changed, as has his view of these places. The library is friendly and warm, the town is open and full of possibility, and Puerto Rico is, if not home, at least the place where family will always greet him with a hug, a kiss on the cheek, and a meal.

Characters should change

That change we can see in the settings, is also visible in the main characters. Marcus, of course, changes the most. Mom also shows lasting change (which I’d argue is not totally realistic, but it’s so full of hope, I don’t really care), and of course there’s Charlie, who exhibits the capacity for change, if not whole hearted willingness to change.

This is what editors want to see. Real change. In many stories the change is a physical one: capturing the bad buy or finding the buried treasure. But in books for kids, especially late elementary and middle school, the most impactful, relevant change is emotional. For Marcus, it’s a realization that he doesn’t have to accept anyone else’s interpretation of who he is. He can be himself, kind and helpful and big. For Mom, it’s a determination to set her own path, not wait for one to be laid out for her.

Does your character, or characters, change? Is it realistic? Do you show that change through their actions and reactions to the world around them? Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish is an excellent mentor text if you’re struggling with how characters can change and how to show your character’s change.