La Linea - Accessibility

I am curious (pending that people read this beyond the end of class today) what people think about the accessibility of this book.

The novel was written to fill in a gap in cultural relevancy that Ann Jaramillo was noticing. That is, her students from Central America and South America were not represented in the things they were reading in school. Enter La Linea.

I'm curious about accessibility on two levels.

First, for the students it was intended to represent. Do they feel accurately represented? Do they feel like they are accurately represented? I would be curious to find that out. What are all ya'll's thoughts? Also, for these students, I am curious about the number of students who would want to read this story. I imagine that if I had experienced some of the things in the story, I would not want to sit down and read about them. I feel like it could be a little overwhelming for some. Again, what are all ya'll's thoughts.

Second, for other middle or high school students. The book has quite a bit of Spanish in it (a technique that I have a love/hate relationship with, but that's another story for another time) and I would be curious to know how students who do not speak Spanish, or those who are just beginning to learning, feel about. I don't mean in a socio-political sense, but in a motivation sense. That is, I wonder how many students would dismiss this because they struggle to get through those parts. I realize that Spanish is only used here and there, and that most of the time it is translated in the next sentence, but I can definitely think of a student or two that I know who would use it as an excuse for not reading it.

I'm not trying to make a bunch of underhanded anti-Spanish language comments of anything. You all know my background. I just think this is a perfect example of how fine a line there is between the inclusion of some student populations and alienation of others; and a reminder that we should be cognizant of our students needs in this realm.