The Language of Love

by Kate Emburg and Dan Weiss

If he only knew...Leanna Van Haver is living two different lives.??To gorgeous Miguel Sarmiento, she's a traditional Filipino girl.??But in reality, dark, exotic Leanna has grown up with her mom and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0553566679
• ISBN13: 9780553566673
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Bantam Books for Young Readers
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 4.2" x 6.9"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Self Discovery, Love, Culture and compromise

1st of all some one may correct me if im wrong but tagalog was what was spoken in parts of the books and is one of the many languages native to the Philippines. At one time there were over 90 distinct languages spoken in the philippines and the philippine government saw it necessary to pick one. Pilipino is truly a national language, created using the maugnayin 'amalgamating' approach of selecting a vocabulary that is representative of all of the languages of the archipelago, with Tagalog serving as the standard. In reality, very few words native to the country used in Pilipino are of non-Tagalogorigin, new words are often coined from the colonial European languages which still have official status: English and Spanish.Anyway on the book...my mother bought it for me and I thought it was going to be some cheezy love story...but it was actually very good. It show's a girls(Leanna's) struggle to figure out where she fits in being half filipina and half american but not really knowing where she fits in, in either culture in some ways. She had never really known her father Carlos or much about her filipino heritage. the book starts where she wakes up on her last day visiting her dad and his family and she talks about how strange the filipino customs seem to her then her dad and his 2nd wife dora decide to take her to the filipino festival in san diego where they live. she is reluctant to go but ends up meeting an amazingly gorgeous filipino named miguel. She assumes she will never see him again since it is her last day in san diego and the next day she will be going home to far oaks so she spends the day with him and ends up falling inlove but she convinces miguel that she is a traditional filipina and not very americanized...then goes back to far oaks where a few weeks later she sees miguel in a movie theater and all her feelings for him come rushing back. Miguel is a 17 year old filipino who has had his heart broken by an american girl and not made many friends since he and his family have moved to the US. He swears off dating american girls after having his heart broken. He is hurt by his brothers and sisters becoming what he thinks is completely americanized. He dosen't quite understand American culture or like it at 1st. He meets Leanna who is wearing a traditional filipion skirt and blouse in yellow(which her father bought for her)he is captivated by her and led to believe that she herself is a traditional filipina but later finds out she is very americanized. I won't tell you the end but I will tell you it's certinly worth Buying!