The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora by Pablo Cartaya

1. Bibliography:

Cartaya, Pablo. The Epic Fail of Arturo Zamora. New York: Puffin Books, 2017. ISBN: 9781101997253

2. Plot Summary:

Arturo Zamora has a lot on his plate this summer. He is looking forward in playing basketball, keeping cool, and working at his Abuela’s restaurant. Instead, he finds himself in a struggle about saving his family’s restaurant, and telling a girl he likes her. Will he fail at saving the restaurant? Will he be courageous to tell Carmen he likes her? Come to the streets of Miami and meet Arturo and his family. They will fight until the end.

3. Characters:

Arturo is the protagonist of this story. He starts off as a typical teenager, hanging with his friends, and developing feelings for another person. Soon, he finds deeper meaning in life through poems from a writer, Josè Marti from Cuba. This symbolizes his culture and the way he decides to handle his situations.

Wilfrid Pipo is the antagonist that want to destroy what Abuela has worked so hard to create. His completive business like mind stops at nothing to become the bigger and best.  

Abuela is a character that ties all of the characters together in some shape or form.

4. Setting:

The main setting is the restaurant in Miami La Cocina de la Isla. The description of the inside of the restaurant are represented are colorful decorations, and pictures from throughout the years. This show the Cuban culture of family is everything, and the colors are the happiness and celebration of this culture.  Throughout the story several Cuban dishes are mentioned, the Cuban sandwich, and churros.

5. Illustrations:

The only illustrations found in the book are an oven mitt, pot, and a spoon. This can be found at a change of scene, and in the recipe section in the book.

6. Theme:

Family will always be there for one another. The author explains this theme by bringing in the family in together and fighting. The first cultural bonding is the Sunday’s dinner at La Cocina de la Isla. This day is only reserved for the Zamora family, and “cousins that are really not cousins”. The family soon comes together to fight for the restaurant.

7. Cultural Markers:

The author showed the cultural stereotypes in a positive way. Mainly through family closeness, and food. The cultural setting is authentic with the description of the restaurant. Correct facts about this culture are found with the recipe section, flashbacks of Cuba, and famous people. There are no source notes. The author’s notes talk about the leader of the Cuban independence and poet. The minority characters are not just equal in society, but some are represented to show success. All non-English words “Mi querido nieto” are used in the correct way and spelled correctly. The author does not explain the meaning of the words, the reader must listen and use context clues before and after to understand what they are saying. Some may need to be translated by another source if the reader does not understand the words used. This story could stand on its own and be a story about how one boy fought for what he thought was right.

8. Connections Teacher and Library Corner:

The students will take paper and create a triangle. They will build 4 of theses and put them together. In each triangle they will build a diorama of the different settings that are represented in the story. These could be the neighborhood, the restaurant, Cuba, abuelo’s apartment, local stores, and more.

9. You Tube:

Pablo Cartaya takes you through the inspired neighborhood that inspired the book. He walks you through his thoughts and explains why these places played an important role on his book. Come join him and see for yourself the real places, and people who made the book happened.

10. Review Excerpts:

"Irresistibly exquisite." Kirkus Reviews

"At turns funny, beautiful, and heartbreaking... engrossing." Booklist

"A vibrant debut novel about family, friendship, and community." Publishers Weekly

11. Children Reviews:

“I found the story line a tad slow at times. I did like the part when they did not have to leave the restaurant.” Logan age 13

12. Awards and Recognitions:

2018 Pura Belpré Author Honor Book
2018 Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year
2018 Texas Lone Star Reading List Selection
2018-2019 Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award Nominee
2018-2019 Sunshine State Young Readers Award Nominee

13. Book Suggestions by Pablo Cartaya:

Marcus Vega Doesn’t Speak Spanish ISBN: 9781101997284

Each Tiny Spark ISBN:9780451479726

Other Books:

The Stars Beneath Our Feet by Davis Barclay Moore ISBN: 9781524701270

The First Rule of Punk by Celia C. Perez ISBN: 9780425290422

14. Official website:

See more what Pablo Cartaya is doing on his website.

15. Rating:

I rate this book 4 stars. I found the humor in a lot of mistakes that Aurturo made. I wish the author would have gone deeper with the main character. I felt that he wrote about the character was just the surface.