C Diane Alvarez

The Missing Olive C Diane Alvarez

A charming story about a little girl named Papi, who learns a valuable lesson about telling the truth. The story is set during the Christmas season; a time the Hispanic culture prepares the seasonal delicacy, red chile tamales. The preparation of red chile tamales has been passed down from generation to generation, not only to learn the skill of making this dish, but also as an opportunity for families to get together, co-labor in love, and at times sell the tamales for money. This tamale season, Papi learns a valuable lesson when she does the unimaginable to the tamales. Papi tries to cover up what she does by lying and goes on a mini-adventure to cover up her lie. She soon realizes that she is in over her head in trying to fix the problem. At the end, she finds herself safe in her mother's arms, understanding that honesty is always the best option and that a little lie can go a long way to making a small problem an even bigger one.