Brandon Brown versus Yucatán

BASIC INFO	LANGUAGE LEVEL	COMPREHENSION-AIDING FEATURES
Book Title Brandon Brown versus Yucatán (Brandon Brown vs. Yucatan) Authors: Kristy Placido Carol Gaab Illustrator Robert Matsudaira Other Contributors no Genres Comedy Realistic Fiction Publisher: Wayside Publication date: 2013 The book has two editions. The first was published by Fluency Matters and the second was published by Wayside, which acquired Fluency Matters in 2021. Although both editions are copyrighted 2013, the Wayside publication contains updated illustrations. See “Illustrations” section below. The book does not indicate the year in which the illustrations were updated. This book is also published in German and French. French version: Brandon Brown à la conquête de Québec German version: Brandon Brown entdeckt Bayern (See LLLAB’s previously-published review of this title.)	Level From the author/publisher’s website Level 1 and up Total Word Count 2 versions under one cover: Present & Past Tense Unique word count: 140 Total word count: 5000	Illustrations YES Glossary YES Guiding Questions NO Context NO Other Other: an online edition, a teacher’s guide, and an audio version are available. The story is available in two versions: one in the present and one in the past tense.

IDENTITIES PRESENT IN THE TEXT		SYNOPSIS
Races, Ethnicities, and Nationalities -White -Mexican -U.S. American (Note: While this text does not specify Brandon’s national identity, another book in the series, El nuevo Houdini, states that Brandon lives in Colorado, USA [p. 2].) -Fluency Matters edition only: Darker-skinned (unspecified racialized identity) Languages spoken Spanish Sex and Genders Female Male (main characters) Ages Child: 6-12 Teenager: 13-18 Mid-life Adult: 35-65 Social classes Middle to Upper class	Sexual Orientation None disclosed (Dis)Abilities and Neurotypes Non-disabled Non-Impaired Religions, Syncretism, and Spirituality Christian (Catholic), Mayan Brandon visits the Izamal convent, where a sign notes that Pope John Paul II once visited. He also visits Mayan temples and sees a statue of Chac Mool, which is a sacred figure associated with pre-Columbian Mesoamerican religions. Relationship and Family Structures Heteroparental Body Descriptions Straight-size	From the back of the book or the author/publisher’s website It takes Brandon Brown less than a day to find trouble while on vacation with his family in Cancun, Mexico. He quickly learns that bad decisions and careless mischief can bring much more than a 12-year-old boy can handle alone. Will he and his new friend, Justin, outwit their parents, or will their mischievous antics eventually catch up with them?

ILLUSTRATIONS	STORY	SOCIAL JUSTICE
To what extent do the illustrations present positive and thoughtful representations of identities? The original version, published by Fluency Matters, has a full-color cover featuring the protagonist, Brandon, and his friend, Justin, with peach skin tones. That version has black-and-white, cartoon-like, in-text illustrations in which two characters are shown with darker skin tones: a character referred to as “the bad man,” and a friend who gets the protagonist into trouble. The newer version, published by Wayside, similarly has a full-color cover featuring Brandon and Justin with peach skin tones. However, in this newer version, the in-text illustrations are updated: the black-and-white drawings have no skin-tone shading for any of the characters, and thus default to White. In the online version of the newer version, the characters have varieties of peach skin tones.	We understand identities are complex and no single story represents the spectrum of identity-based experiences. Also, a text may address a stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization without relying on it. *Does any stereotype, misrepresentation, or generalization affect any positive and thoughtful representations of identities in the text?* No	This section is for teachers who are working towards sourcing more texts within the four domains of anti-bias education. We are excited about reading all books and we understand that not all books are written for this specific purpose. *Does this text work toward goals within any of the* four domains of anti-bias education as defined by Learning for Justice? No

LLLAB’s REVIEW
Brandon is on vacation in Yucatán, México, with his family when he gets separated from them and makes a new friend, Justin, with whom he gets into a lot of trouble as they move from one tourist site to another. The kind of trouble Brandon and his friend get in ranges from making gorilla noises in front of a sign that asks for “silence” at a religious site to climbing a Mayan pyramid that is off-limits to visitors. After watching several movies, Brandon makes assumptions about a Mexican man that reveal his prejudices. This may lead to productive classroom discussions about how biased media representations can affect us as viewers and shape societal prejudices. The plot allows for a lighthearted tour through many prominent Yucatán cultural sites, including Ek’ Balam, Mercado San Gabriel, El Mesón del Marqués, Chichén Itzá, Itzmal, Cenote Taak Xiipal, El Castillo, El Caracol, El Templo de los Guerreros, and Chac Mool. Some gender stereotypes appear in the text. For example, Brandon refers to the film “The Princess Diaries” as “una película de chicas” (a chick flick, p. 3), in contrast to “The Avengers,” which he chooses to watch. Additionally, Brandon and his friend Justin see a group of men watching soccer on TV in a bar (p. 30). It is notable that the people watching soccer are specifically referred to as men. After Brandon has stayed up all night to watch movies, Brandon’s family embarks on a tour during which Brandon overhears a man’s phone conversation in which he uses the word “exterminate,” and Brandon jumps to conclusions. The man says “<<Exterminé a tres y busco al otro…>> / I exterminated three of them and I’m looking for the other one.” (p.14) Brandon immediately assumes that the man is a criminal. “Se imagina que el hombre es un criminal… igual a los criminales de las películas” / He imagines that the man is a criminal… just like the criminals in the movies (p. 14). The phrase “el hombre malo” (the bad man, e.g., pp. 14, 20, 22, 24, 28, 34) appears on multiple occasions in both Brandon’s voice as well as the voice of the narrator. Teachers may wish to discuss with students ways in which United States media representation of Mexicans may have shaped Brandon’s prejudices. This may also open the door to a larger discussion of representations of race and criminality in media and how it may shape our own prejudices. Throughout the book, Brandon repeatedly runs from “the bad man.” At the end of the story, Brandon discovers that the man is actually a representative of the tour company. The man holds Justin and his parents accountable for Brandon and Justin’s inappropriate behaviors and forbids Justin’s family from participating in any future tours with his company. In a reversal of Brandon’s assumptions, the so-called “bad man” turns out not to be a villain whereas Brandon and Justin were the ones doing wrong. The owner of the tour company informs Justin’s parents, “Su hijo Justin y su amigo Brandon no tuvieron supervisión adecuada y causaron muchos problemas” / Your son Justin and his friend Brandon didn’t have adequate supervision and caused a lot of problems (p. 57). While in this case a lack of supervision led to problems for others, the fact that Brandon was unsupervised while on vacation also could have led to problems for himself. Teachers may wish to point out to students that Brandon should have stayed with his family for his own safety. Teachers may also wish to explore cultural differences in attitudes about the supervision of children: in some cultures, a primary motivation for adult supervision may be to prevent child misbehavior, while in other contexts, it may be to protect the child’s own safety. The story ends with Brandon’s parents finding out about his misbehaviors. The parents furiously yell “Braaaaandon!” (p. 57) but the story ends with no real consequences for Brandon. Teachers may wish to ask students to think about what might happen next, and what it might look like for Brandon to take responsibility for his actions, especially as a guest in a place of cultural importance.

LLLAB’s REVIEW

Brandon is on vacation in Yucatán, México, with his family when he gets separated from them and makes a new friend, Justin, with whom he gets into a lot of trouble as they move from one tourist site to another. The kind of trouble Brandon and his friend get in ranges from making gorilla noises in front of a sign that asks for “silence” at a religious site to climbing a Mayan pyramid that is off-limits to visitors. After watching several movies, Brandon makes assumptions about a Mexican man that reveal his prejudices. This may lead to productive classroom discussions about how biased media representations can affect us as viewers and shape societal prejudices.

The plot allows for a lighthearted tour through many prominent Yucatán cultural sites, including Ek’ Balam, Mercado San Gabriel, El Mesón del Marqués, Chichén Itzá, Itzmal, Cenote Taak Xiipal, El Castillo, El Caracol, El Templo de los Guerreros, and Chac Mool.

Some gender stereotypes appear in the text. For example, Brandon refers to the film “The Princess Diaries” as “una película de chicas” (a chick flick, p. 3), in contrast to “The Avengers,” which he chooses to watch. Additionally, Brandon and his friend Justin see a group of men watching soccer on TV in a bar (p. 30). It is notable that the people watching soccer are specifically referred to as men.

After Brandon has stayed up all night to watch movies, Brandon’s family embarks on a tour during which Brandon overhears a man’s phone conversation in which he uses the word “exterminate,” and Brandon jumps to conclusions. The man says “<<Exterminé a tres y busco al otro…>> / I exterminated three of them and I’m looking for the other one.” (p.14) Brandon immediately assumes that the man is a criminal. “Se imagina que el hombre es un criminal… igual a los criminales de las películas” / He imagines that the man is a criminal… just like the criminals in the movies (p. 14). The phrase “el hombre malo” (the bad man, e.g., pp. 14, 20, 22, 24, 28, 34) appears on multiple occasions in both Brandon’s voice as well as the voice of the narrator. Teachers may wish to discuss with students ways in which United States media representation of Mexicans may have shaped Brandon’s prejudices. This may also open the door to a larger discussion of representations of race and criminality in media and how it may shape our own prejudices.

Throughout the book, Brandon repeatedly runs from “the bad man.” At the end of the story, Brandon discovers that the man is actually a representative of the tour company. The man holds Justin and his parents accountable for Brandon and Justin’s inappropriate behaviors and forbids Justin’s family from participating in any future tours with his company. In a reversal of Brandon’s assumptions, the so-called “bad man” turns out not to be a villain whereas Brandon and Justin were the ones doing wrong.

The owner of the tour company informs Justin’s parents, “Su hijo Justin y su amigo Brandon no tuvieron supervisión adecuada y causaron muchos problemas” / Your son Justin and his friend Brandon didn’t have adequate supervision and caused a lot of problems (p. 57). While in this case a lack of supervision led to problems for others, the fact that Brandon was unsupervised while on vacation also could have led to problems for himself. Teachers may wish to point out to students that Brandon should have stayed with his family for his own safety. Teachers may also wish to explore cultural differences in attitudes about the supervision of children: in some cultures, a primary motivation for adult supervision may be to prevent child misbehavior, while in other contexts, it may be to protect the child’s own safety.

The story ends with Brandon’s parents finding out about his misbehaviors. The parents furiously yell “Braaaaandon!” (p. 57) but the story ends with no real consequences for Brandon. Teachers may wish to ask students to think about what might happen next, and what it might look like for Brandon to take responsibility for his actions, especially as a guest in a place of cultural importance.

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