Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish book cover
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Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish

By Pablo Cartaya

One boy’s search for his father leads him to Puerto Rico in this moving middle-grade novel, for fans of Ghost and See You in the Cosmos.

Marcus Vega is six feet tall, 180 pounds, and the owner of a premature mustache. When you look like this and you’re only in the eighth grade, you’re both a threat and a target.

After a fight at school leaves Marcus facing suspension, Marcus’s mom decides it’s time for a change of environment. She takes Marcus and his younger brother to Puerto Rico to spend a week with relatives they don’t remember or have never met. But Marcus can’t focus knowing that his father–who walked out of their lives ten years ago–is somewhere on the island.

So begins Marcus’s incredible journey, a series of misadventures that take him all over Puerto Rico in search of his elusive namesake. Marcus doesn’t know if he’ll ever find his father, but what he ultimately discovers changes his life. And he even learns a bit of Spanish along the way.

Educator Resources

  • A Discussion Guide to the Works of Pablo Cartaya

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State Awards

Recommended reading lists from your state's teacher or librarian associations!
  • Louisiana
    • Louisiana Young Reader's Choice Award, 2020-2021
  • Pennsylvania
    • Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, 2019-2020
  • Wisconsin
    • Just One More Page!, 2019
  • Oklahoma
    • Sequoyah Intermediate Book Award, 2020
  • Indiana
    • Young Hoosier Book Award, 2020-2021
  • Maryland
    • Black-Eyed Susan Book Award, 2020-2021
  • Florida
    • Florida Sunshine State Young Reader Award, 2020-2021
  • Arizona
    • Grand Canyon Reader Award 2021
  • Nebraska
    • Nebraska Golden Sower Award, 2020-2021
  • South Carolina
    • South Carolina Book Award, 2020-2021
  • Kansas
    • William Allen White Children’s Book Award, 2020-2021
  • North Carolina
    • North Carolina Children’s Young Adult Award, 2021
  • Tennessee
    • Volunteer State Book Award 2020-2021
  • Massachusetts
    • Massachusetts Children's Book Award 2021-2022

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