Booktalking Colorado - Full Booktalk Record

Booktalking Colorado Full Record:

	Title:	City of the Beasts
	Author:	Allende, Isabel
	Date Published:	2002
	Genre:	Fantasy
	Grade Level:	6 - 8
	Booktalker:	Sam Marsh

Booktalk:
Nothing had gone right in Alex's life since his mother was diagnosed with cancer. She had no energy, and all the things she had done seemingly without effort were just too much for the other members of the family. They didn't even eat right. The only thing his father could make were rubbery uneatable pancakes, and the girls were even younger than Alex. Then, his mother and father had to go to Texas for treatments for her. The two girls would go to live with his maternal grandmother. Alex, on the other hand, was being sent to live with his father's mother, Kate, in New York and from there to an Adventure on the Amazon with the woman. To Alex, Kate was surreal. Scary. Dangerous. Capable of pushing him into "...a river filled with piranhas." But, there was nothing he could do about it. So, Alex flew to New York, alone, to meet Kate. Problem was, Kate never showed up at the airport, and didn't answer the phone when he called. Finally, he walked to a bus stop (after about 2 hours) where a girl befriended him and offered to help him since she was going the wrong way. He should have realized that something was wrong when she didn't have money for the bus fare. "Somebody robbed me!" She claimed. But, he was young and it was his first time alone in the big city. When they got off at the stop and went to catch a bite to eat (Alex's treat, of course), Alex put his bag down by the sink in the men's room while washing and drying his hands. When he turned to retrieve it, it had disappeared. So had the girl. Further, they were nowhere near to Alex's grandmothers, and he was forced to walk the remaining several miles sans gloves and a warm coat in the cold winter weather. When he finally arrived at Kate's after midnight, she was anything but remorseful about not picking him up, but didn't berate him for the loss of his bag. Instead, she gave him his dead grandfather's flute, to replace the one he had lost with his bag. The notes that escaped when he placed it to his lips were surprisingly more beautiful. Then she told him about the trek to the Amazon where she was to write an article for International Geographic about the search for a gigantic, possibly humanoid, creature that had been sighted there. Something like the Yeti travel to the Amazon. The rumor was that it leaves an odor so strong that animals and people in the area would faint or become paralyzed. And, it killed, cleanly and without noise and then gutted them with true elegance, she joked. And this was the woman who was now responsible for Alex. The piranhas were sounding better and better.