Dorros, Alex 1991-

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Dorros, Alex 1991-

Personal

Born 1991; son of Arthur Dorros (a writer). Hobbies and other interests: Photography.

Addresses

Home—Seattle, WA. E-mail—alex.dorros@garfieldmessenger.com.

Career

Student and writer.

Writings

(With father, Arthur Dorros) Número uno, illustrated by Susan Guevara, Abrams (New York, NY), 2007.

Sidelights

High school student Alex Dorros came up with an idea for a book in sixth grade while completing a class assignment to write a fable. For many students, the idea was forgotten after the assignment was completed, but Dorros had another plan: he collaborated with his father, writer Arthur Dorros, and turned his fable into a picture-book text. The result, Número uno, was published in 2007, when Dorros fille was only sixteen years old.

Living in a family that speaks both Spanish and English, Dorros and his father incorporate both languages into their tale, which depicts two friends who, while working together to construct a bridge, argue about which of them is "número uno." Hercules Hernandez is the builder, and his friend Socrates Rivera is the architect; the former is extremely strong while the latter is super-intelligent. As the work continues, the pair bickers about whether strength or smarts are more important. Dorros found that, at times, the writing process echoed the story, as he and his father occasionally bickered about the text. "Working on a book with your dad is definitely not the easiest of tasks," the young writer acknowledged on his home page.

In Número uno, the two squabbling friends create so much trouble trying to build a bridge that a young boy devises a competition, sending the men away from the village and into the mountains so that the villagers can decide who is number one. Of course, both brains and strength are needed to complete the bridge, a moral that the wise young boy supplies when the architect and builder return. Noting the dialogue inserted into the illustrations by Susan Guevara, Linda M. Kenton wrote in her School Library Journal review that in Número uno "funny details abound." In Horn Book Roger Sutton commented that the simple Spanish-language dialogue "punctuates the story-hour-ready text with verve," and Abby Nolan commented in Booklist that the "short bursts of dialogue, all in Spanish and readily understood through context, will make this fun to read aloud."