A while back I told a funny story of a conversation about 3 boys in my class starting a band. It is progressing. They plan to be part of the end of the year talent show and have invited one of the girls in my class to join. In reality she asked if she could join and they said yes. The drummer in the band is a pencil tapper. Quite frankly he drives me crazy sometimes because, like a real drummer, he taps two pencils on his desk, book pencil box in lieu of a drum kit.
He immediately popped into mind as I read Drum Dream Girl: How One Girl’s Courage Changed Music, written by Margarita Engle and illustrated by Rafael Lopez.
Based on the true story of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga, we encounter Millo in 1930’s Cuba, where drumming is taboo for girls.
But Millo is undeterred. She dreams,
she drums wherever she can,
until, finally her father sets her up with a teacher.
The text is rhythmic and the illustrations are poetic and I felt I was right there in Cuba with Millo. Although it is a tale told simply, it is the powerful story of one girls dream and her willingness to persevere to achieve it.
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