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Table of Contents
About The Book
A whimsical and unflinchingly honest generational story of family and identity where hats turn into leeches, ghosts blow kisses from lemon trees, and the things you find at the end of your fishing line might not be a fish at all.
Half-Colombian Eddie Aguado has never really felt Colombian. Especially after Papa died. And since Mama keeps her memories of Papa locked up where Eddie can’t get to them, he only has Papa’s third-place fishing tournament medal to remember him by. He’ll have to figure out how to be more Colombian on his own.
As if by magic, the perfect opportunity arises. Eddie—who’s never left Minnesota—is invited to spend the summer in Colombia with his older half-brother. But as his adventure unfolds, he feels more and more like a fish out of water.
Figuring out how to be a true colombiano might be more difficult than he thought.
Excerpt
Chapter 1 1
THE WATER by the shore smells like the bottom of the garbage pail right after I take out the trash. I scrunch up my nose and head down the wooden boards of the T-shaped dock. A dad with a small child points across the lake, while a man in a dirty Twins cap blasts country music from an old radio. Leaning my elbows on the dock’s railing, I watch the gray-green fish dart and glide below me.
“What are you doing?” asks a loud voice. It’s the purple-haired girl I noticed at day camp this morning.
“Quiet,” I say. “You’ll scare the fish.”
“Oh, and that thing won’t?” She nods her chin toward the radio.
She has a point.
“Look.” She leans close—too close—and points at a flyer stapled to the dock next to where I’m resting my elbows. The flyer has a picture of a smiling fish fishing. A speech bubble coming out of its mouth says, Catch me if you can!
I recognize that fish from somewhere.
“What is it?” the girl asks, as if I know.
“I’m not sure—” I start to say. But then I realize I am sure. “It’s a fishing contest.”
“You’re right.” She taps the words on the paper and reads aloud, “?‘The Fourteenth Annual Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament. Enter for your chance to win the five-thousand-dollar prize.’?” She whistles through teeth that stick out like a bunny’s. “That’s a lot of cash. Who’s Arne Hopkins?”
“No idea. I never heard of him until a couple of weeks ago when I found this.”
I pull a smooth disc out of my pocket. It’s a medal—orangish pink, like it’s trying to be bronze. Third place. On one side is a picture of the same smiling fish holding a fishing rod, and the words “2nd Annual Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament” are squeezed in around the circle.
The girl leans in, and I realize that her hair isn’t completely purple, just the ends. Most of it’s blond, making her look kind of like a sunset. She grabs the medal from my hand and flips it over. I don’t need to look at it to know that it says Eduardo Aguado León in faded engraved script.
“Who’s Eduardo Aguado León?” she asks, mutilating the pronunciation.
“My dad.”
“Your dad won this contest?” The girl stares at me like I’m giving away the secrets of the universe.
“I suppose.” I don’t feel the need to tell her that I barely remember him, much less know if he really won some fishing tournament.
“You going to enter?” she asks, handing me back the medal.
I snap my fingers shut around the disc. “It says you have to have a team—at least two people.”
“Why don’t you and your dad enter?”
I ignore her question. Instead I say, more to myself than to her, “If Liam were still here, he would’ve been my partner. But he just moved away.”
“I don’t know who Liam is, but you’re in luck,” the girl says. She squints her eyes and places one hand behind her back and the other flat against her stomach. She isn’t smiling, but she winks at me as she bows deeply at the waist. “I guess I moved to Minnesota just in time. I’ll be your partner.” Upright again, she holds out her hand like a grown-up. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Cameron.”
I look at her hand. The nails are bitten down, and her wrist has a stain of green marker, probably from the nametag decorating we had to do this morning. Kamp Kids day camp—also known as summer day care—is just as pointless as I thought it would be. This morning we were forced to play name games in big circles. I wasn’t in Cameron’s group. Then we ate our bag lunches under trees while getting dive-bombed by flies. I’m desperately counting the minutes until my half brother arrives from Colombia and I don’t have to go to camp anymore. Just seven more days.
“Well?” Cameron is looking at me expectantly. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name? That’s what people do, you know.”
“People call me—” I decide I don’t want to tell her what people call me. “Eddie,” I say, because it’s true. Short for Edward Aguado. Like my dad’s name, only different. Our names aren’t the only things that make us different.
She squints at me. “Where are you from, Eddie?”
“Here.”
“No. Where are you—”
“Like I said, here. Minneapolis,” I interrupt. “What grade are you in?”
“Going into sixth. Starting Central Middle School in the fall.”
“Me too,” I say.
She pulls a phone out of her jeans pocket and snaps a picture of the flyer. I wish I had a phone. My mom and her rules.
“I went to Catholic school before,” Cameron says as if I had asked her. “Yep. Moving from California. Switching to public school. Life is really something, isn’t it?”
As a matter of fact, it really is. I pat my pocket where Papa’s medal is safely tucked away. Two weeks ago I’d never heard of the Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament, and now I’ve seen it twice.
“What do you say?” Cameron puts her phone away. “We should enter. What do we have to lose? Don’t you want to win five thousand dollars?”
Five thousand dollars? Last week the repair shop told Mama that something needed to be replaced in her car. Something expensive. I don’t know what. She asked how long she could wait to fix the Honda. “You got a couple months, sweetheart,” the mechanic said. She rolled her eyes. She hates when people talk to her like that.
“Twenty-five hundred each.” Cameron slaps the flyer.
Two thousand five hundred dollars sure would help. I bet that would be enough for the mechanic to fix Mama’s Honda.
“What do you say, Eddie? Partners?”
My fingers grip the medal in my pocket. I think of Papa. What if I could win a medal just like he did?
“Let’s fish,” I say.
THE WATER by the shore smells like the bottom of the garbage pail right after I take out the trash. I scrunch up my nose and head down the wooden boards of the T-shaped dock. A dad with a small child points across the lake, while a man in a dirty Twins cap blasts country music from an old radio. Leaning my elbows on the dock’s railing, I watch the gray-green fish dart and glide below me.
“What are you doing?” asks a loud voice. It’s the purple-haired girl I noticed at day camp this morning.
“Quiet,” I say. “You’ll scare the fish.”
“Oh, and that thing won’t?” She nods her chin toward the radio.
She has a point.
“Look.” She leans close—too close—and points at a flyer stapled to the dock next to where I’m resting my elbows. The flyer has a picture of a smiling fish fishing. A speech bubble coming out of its mouth says, Catch me if you can!
I recognize that fish from somewhere.
“What is it?” the girl asks, as if I know.
“I’m not sure—” I start to say. But then I realize I am sure. “It’s a fishing contest.”
“You’re right.” She taps the words on the paper and reads aloud, “?‘The Fourteenth Annual Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament. Enter for your chance to win the five-thousand-dollar prize.’?” She whistles through teeth that stick out like a bunny’s. “That’s a lot of cash. Who’s Arne Hopkins?”
“No idea. I never heard of him until a couple of weeks ago when I found this.”
I pull a smooth disc out of my pocket. It’s a medal—orangish pink, like it’s trying to be bronze. Third place. On one side is a picture of the same smiling fish holding a fishing rod, and the words “2nd Annual Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament” are squeezed in around the circle.
The girl leans in, and I realize that her hair isn’t completely purple, just the ends. Most of it’s blond, making her look kind of like a sunset. She grabs the medal from my hand and flips it over. I don’t need to look at it to know that it says Eduardo Aguado León in faded engraved script.
“Who’s Eduardo Aguado León?” she asks, mutilating the pronunciation.
“My dad.”
“Your dad won this contest?” The girl stares at me like I’m giving away the secrets of the universe.
“I suppose.” I don’t feel the need to tell her that I barely remember him, much less know if he really won some fishing tournament.
“You going to enter?” she asks, handing me back the medal.
I snap my fingers shut around the disc. “It says you have to have a team—at least two people.”
“Why don’t you and your dad enter?”
I ignore her question. Instead I say, more to myself than to her, “If Liam were still here, he would’ve been my partner. But he just moved away.”
“I don’t know who Liam is, but you’re in luck,” the girl says. She squints her eyes and places one hand behind her back and the other flat against her stomach. She isn’t smiling, but she winks at me as she bows deeply at the waist. “I guess I moved to Minnesota just in time. I’ll be your partner.” Upright again, she holds out her hand like a grown-up. “Pleased to meet you. I’m Cameron.”
I look at her hand. The nails are bitten down, and her wrist has a stain of green marker, probably from the nametag decorating we had to do this morning. Kamp Kids day camp—also known as summer day care—is just as pointless as I thought it would be. This morning we were forced to play name games in big circles. I wasn’t in Cameron’s group. Then we ate our bag lunches under trees while getting dive-bombed by flies. I’m desperately counting the minutes until my half brother arrives from Colombia and I don’t have to go to camp anymore. Just seven more days.
“Well?” Cameron is looking at me expectantly. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name? That’s what people do, you know.”
“People call me—” I decide I don’t want to tell her what people call me. “Eddie,” I say, because it’s true. Short for Edward Aguado. Like my dad’s name, only different. Our names aren’t the only things that make us different.
She squints at me. “Where are you from, Eddie?”
“Here.”
“No. Where are you—”
“Like I said, here. Minneapolis,” I interrupt. “What grade are you in?”
“Going into sixth. Starting Central Middle School in the fall.”
“Me too,” I say.
She pulls a phone out of her jeans pocket and snaps a picture of the flyer. I wish I had a phone. My mom and her rules.
“I went to Catholic school before,” Cameron says as if I had asked her. “Yep. Moving from California. Switching to public school. Life is really something, isn’t it?”
As a matter of fact, it really is. I pat my pocket where Papa’s medal is safely tucked away. Two weeks ago I’d never heard of the Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament, and now I’ve seen it twice.
“What do you say?” Cameron puts her phone away. “We should enter. What do we have to lose? Don’t you want to win five thousand dollars?”
Five thousand dollars? Last week the repair shop told Mama that something needed to be replaced in her car. Something expensive. I don’t know what. She asked how long she could wait to fix the Honda. “You got a couple months, sweetheart,” the mechanic said. She rolled her eyes. She hates when people talk to her like that.
“Twenty-five hundred each.” Cameron slaps the flyer.
Two thousand five hundred dollars sure would help. I bet that would be enough for the mechanic to fix Mama’s Honda.
“What do you say, Eddie? Partners?”
My fingers grip the medal in my pocket. I think of Papa. What if I could win a medal just like he did?
“Let’s fish,” I say.
Reading Group Guide
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What If a Fish
By Anika Fajardo
About the book
Half-Colombian Eddie Aguado has never really felt Colombian, especially after Papa died. Since Mama keeps her memories of Papa locked up where Eddie can’t get to them, he only has Papa’s third-place fishing tournament medal to remember him by. He’ll have to figure out how to be more Colombian on his own.
As if by magic, the perfect opportunity arises. Eddie—who’s never left Minnesota—is invited to spend the summer in Colombia with his older half-brother. But as his adventure unfolds, he feels more and more like a fish out of water.
Figuring out how to be a true colombiano might be more difficult than he thought.
Discussion Questions
1. Little Eddie plans to enter (and win) the 14th Annual Arne Hopkins Dock Fishing Tournament, even though he doesn’t know how to fish. Why is he so determined? What characteristics does Little Eddie have that might help him with his goal?
2. Mama hardly ever talks about Papa or about Colombia. Why do you think she keeps these memories to herself? What secrets is Little Eddie keeping from her?
3. When Little Eddie tells Cameron that he’s going to spend the summer in Colombia, she doesn’t seem very happy. Why doesn’t Cameron want Little Eddie to leave? Why do you think the fishing contest is important to Cameron?
4. Little Eddie remembers learning the word “discombobulate” in fifth grade. What does it mean? Why does he remember that word when he arrives in Colombia?
5. When Little Eddie arrives in Colombia, he is bombarded by Spanish. Why doesn’t Eddie already know Spanish? Why does Little Eddie start yelling all the Spanish words he knows when he first meets the Parades children? Is he being disrespectful? Respectful?
6. When the hat floating in the water at the beach turns out to be a bucket of leeches, Big Eddie tells his brother that this is part of Colombia—anything can happen. Are there other scenes in the book when something surprising, unexpected, or magical happens?
7. What does Abuela call Little Eddie? What does he think of his new nickname? How does his name change during the book? How do you feel about nicknames? Do you have one?
8. When Little Eddie finally gets to go fishing in Cartagena, he and his brother talk about stereotypes. What stereotypes does Little Eddie notice? Are there stereotypes that you noticed? Big Eddie tells him, “‘Sometimes you can use people’s wrong ideas about you to get them to do what you want.’” What does he mean by that? Have you ever had someone stereotype you? How did it feel? What did you do?
9. When Mama’s car and Big Eddie go missing back in Minneapolis, Little Eddie and Mama worry about Big Eddie. What are they worried about? Did you think he stole the car? Were you surprised to find out what actually happened?
10. Little Eddie and Cameron don’t win the fishing contest, but they do end up catching a big one. What does the huge fish mean to Little Eddie? To Big Eddie? To Cameron? Do you think it was realistic that they caught such an enormous fish?
11. Little Eddie struggles with his identity. He’s half Colombian and half white; he’s a half brother; he has only one parent; he doesn’t speak Spanish. All of these things make him wonder what part of himself is the real part. Do you think the other characters in the book (Big Eddie, Cameron, Mama) are struggling with who they are? How does this struggle change during the book?
Extension Activities
Family
Little Eddie’s family is complicated. His father is gone and he lives with his single mom. He has a half brother who is almost a decade older than him. The only grandparent he knows is Abuela—who isn’t actually his biological grandmother. Other characters in the book also have complicated or nontraditional family structures. Eddie’s friends Liam and Cameron struggle with their families since both moved to be with their new stepfamilies. Discuss what makes a family. Have students map their family trees—not just those people who are related to them, but those who feel like family.
Research and Evaluating Sources
Little Eddie loves his set of encyclopedias. Explore different types of research sources from print encyclopedias like Little Eddie’s to online resources like e-resources or Wikipedia. Have students explore how these sources are similar or different. Discuss appropriate sources for research. For example, Little Eddie’s old encyclopedia might be a good source for learning about fish, but it might not be a good resource for finding the most updated list of endangered species.. Have students write a report using different types of encyclopedic works.
Writing
Several other kids make appearances in What If a Fish: Cameron, Liam, Alyssa, and the Schmidt brothers. The reader only knows a little about these secondary characters. Have students choose a character and write a narrative about that character. They can imagine what their families, thoughts, and experiences are like. Students can also rewrite a scene from the point of view of one of the other characters. For example, what does the scene at the dock look like from Alyssa’s point of view?
Magical Realism and Magic
Magical realism is a literary tool in which magical things happen in otherwise realistic stories. In What If a Fish, a few examples of magical realism include the hat turning into a bucket of leeches, the fish stealing Eddie’s medal, and the appearance of Abuela’s ghost. Magical realism was popularized in Latin American literature starting in the 1940s. Authors who have used magical realism include Gabriel García Márquez, Isabel Allende, and Laura Esquivel. Magical realism is different from stories about magic (like stories about wizards and spells) or fantasy (stories about fairies and elves). Magical realism is often used to make a point about something bigger; for example, many Latin American authors used it to protest post-Colonialism and oppressive governments. Have students think about how the magical elements in What If a Fish are different from magical elements in other books or movies. They can make a chart or graph that shows the differences. Have students learn more about authors using magical realism. A couple of picture book biographies to get started: My Name is Gabito: The Life of Gabriel García Márquez by Monica Brown, Isabel Allende: Recuerdos para un cuento/Memories for a Story by Raquel Benatar.
Science: Water
Water plays a central role in this book. But the water in Minnesota—freshwater lakes—is quite different from that in Colombia—the Caribbean Sea. Use the text to discuss the ecosystems of lakes versus oceans. How does the water cycle change depending upon the body of water? How does the type of water impact the food chain?
Reading Group Guide written by the author, Anika Fajardo.
This guide has been provided by Simon & Schuster for classroom, library, and reading group use. It may be reproduced in its entirety or excerpted for these purposes. For more Simon & Schuster guides and classroom materials, please visit simonandschuster.net or simonandschuster.net/thebookpantry.
About The Author
(c) Dave Dieken
Anika Fajardo was born in Colombia and raised in Minnesota. She wrote a book about that experience, Magical Realism for Non-Believers: A Memoir of Finding Family. Anika is also the author of What If a Fish, which won a Minnesota Book Award and was a CCBC Choices selection, and Meet Me Halfway. A writer, editor, and teacher, she lives in the very literary city of Minneapolis.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers (August 11, 2020)
- Length: 240 pages
- ISBN13: 9781534449831
- Grades: 3 - 7
- Ages: 8 - 12
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Raves and Reviews
"Poetic and believable. Multilayered and convincing, the book will have readers rooting for its sweet and smart protagonist."
– Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2020
"Fajardo’s honest, heartfelt text evokes sorrow and grief but also understanding, navigating the many complexities of identity, friendship, family, loss, and death."
– Booklist, July 1, 2020
"A whimsical and inviting #OwnVoices story of family, friendship, and identity."
– School Library Journal, October 2, 2020
"This is a beautifully written tale–a gentle story that explores the depths of grief, the loss of loved ones, the expanses of family, and the building blocks that make all of us human. So what does this have to do with fish, or fishing? Not a whole lot, and everything. I highly recommend you read the book to find out."
– Anjali Sanghvi, Mr. Alex's bookshelf
Minneapolis author Anika Fajardo’s first middle-grade novel mines painful life lessons and in its magical middle section, it sings.
– Trisha Collopy, Star Tribune
Awards and Honors
- Minnesota Book Award
- Rhode Island Latino Book Award Nominee
Resources and Downloads
High Resolution Images
- Book Cover Image (jpg): What If a Fish Hardcover 9781534449831
- Author Photo (jpg): Anika Fajardo (c) Dave Dieken(0.1 MB)
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