The Fortune of Carmen Navarro / Jen Bryant / 229 pages / 4 Calling Birds Christmas Challenge

"Doesn't everyone say that love makes you do a lot of strange things - stuff you thought you would never do."  Ryan Sweeney's new found talent for bending the truth proves that.  He is a junior at Valley Forge Military Academy and his father hopes he will follow the family tradition and attend West Point.  His brother is serving a second tour in Afghanistan.  When he meets fiery gypsy-like Carmen at the Quickmart, everything changes.  Ryan BFF, Will, and Carmen's BFF, Maggie, caution Ryan and Carmen about the romance.  Carmen has plans for stardom.  (She is an excellent singer, performing with the Gypsy Lovers.)  She is living with and supporting her abuelos after her mother abandoned her.  Maggie is attending tech school to become a veterinarian's assistant. Will and Carmen make pocket change selling contraband cigarettes.  Told in four voices, The Fortune of Carmen Navarro is a retelling of the opera Carmen which was based on a novella from the mid 1800's written by French author Prosper Merimee.