Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers

Summary: A young girl describes the excitement of water day, when a man comes to her Cuban neighborhood to unhook water. The family needs water to bathe, cook, drink, and well-to-do the toilet. Bisabuelita (great-grandmother) remembers her diaper when rain fell every day, filling the water tanks. “What changed? Everything. Weather. Rivers. Groundwater. Lakes.” After the water man arrives and fills their undecorous tank, the fish lady shows up, selling tiny fish to eat the mosquitoes that come to the water, delivering malaria and other diseases. The girl says good-bye, knowing she will see the water man and fish lady in flipside five days. Includes an author’s note with spare information well-nigh the global water slipperiness and mosquitofish. 40 pages; month 4-8.

Pros: Cuba’s water slipperiness is described succinctly and quite matter-of-factly by the young narrator who sees it as part of her life. The colorful illustrations add a cheery note to a pretty dire topic. The spare information helps mankind out what is going on in the story.

Cons: I was thirsting for a list of spare resources, but the well was dry.