‘Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa’ by Micol Ostow is a story about a girl who finds out the grandmother she’s never met has passed away in Puerto Rico. Her mother came to the United States and met her father years before, never returning to her home, and effectively breaking ties with her family. Ostow has written books in the Students Across the Seven Seas series of books, which are all set in different countries, and this one is most certainly along those lines.

Emily travels to Puerto Rico with her family for the funeral, not knowing quite what to expect. She has family she’s never met, and her first cousin, Lucy, who is about the same age as her, is not welcoming in the least. When Emily’s mom is having trouble coping with the loss of her mother, Emily is forced to stay in Puerto Rico for the summer, derailing her plans to road trip cross country with her two best friends, and keeping her from her boyfriend during their last summer together before college.

Making friends proves somewhat difficult since Lucy is not opening up to her, but Emily begins finding herself little by little, learning more of her history by visiting historic sites, taking part in family occasions, and dealing with issues that pop up with both her mother and Lucy. Her friendships and troubles help her grow and show her that even though she thought life would work out a certain way, sometimes there are bumps in the road that turn out to be blessings in disguise. Despite having had to travel to Puerto Rico for her grandmother’s funeral, the experience is a transitional one for Emily, allowing her to cope with her own life in her own way. Even though she never learns to actually salsa, the metaphor of how she learns to deal with issues that pop up in her life is strong throughout the novel.

You can find ‘Emily Goldberg Learns to Salsa’ by Micol Ostow here.