Rival

I used this novel with my Spanish 3 class in second semester. It was PHENOMENAL!!! Because we had already studied present/past perfect and present subjunctive, the grammar was *spot on* for their knowledge level. I loved that the glossary in the back was so comprehensive. There was really no need at all to consult an outside dictionary source. The photos were excellent and really added to the book and expanding knowledge of the culture. However, the same novel with the OTHER cover has larger photos, and more of them, than this printing.I went to Mira Canion's website and bought the teacher pack material. I'm telling you - GAME CHANGER. She provided SOOOO much content. It was truly mind-blowing. It cost $65 (or something like that) and was worth every cent. Comprehension questions, audio files of each chapter, supplementary slide shows, extra support material, so much material that saved me a TON of time. Next year I will start in with the novel MUCH earlier so that we can really do a deep-dive and process more possibilities. I did assign students to 2 presentations - one about cities in Spain and another on a topic related to the novel. I think students really enjoyed reading it.

This book is SPANISH LANGUAGE (hence the author), it is a comprehensible input book. The book is written in past tense (preterito e imperfecto) with limited passive voice (se-construction). Like all of Mira Canion books, the glossary is complete. The pictures are photos from Spain, so students can make character sketches based on text. 12 Chapters, and shorter than many books, 57 pgs- it is a little more dense than Fiesta Fatal or Agentes Secretos. There are fewer cognates and more advanced sentence structures, which makes this a perfect book for end of Spanish 2 (or higher students) or a solid level 3 book. There are many topics to explore that fit with the book (Arabic in Spanish, religions in Spain, geography in Spain, Templars, economy, the role of women in Medieval Spain).

We now have 2 of these books in Spanish. The product description states the language is English. We returned it with an explanation and received another version in Spanish. Apparently the comment section for returned items is not looked at.