ALL OF APOLONIA

A wheelchair basketball player plans a party.

Apolonia can’t wait to celebrate her birthday. She’s inviting “todos—teammates and primas!” to the gym, where they’ll play wheelchair basketball and eat tacos de arracheras, arroz y frijoles, and tres leches. But her racially diverse teammates anticipate pizza and ice cream—what if they don’t like Papá’s menu? And when Apolonia’s cousins learn they’ll be “playing basketball en sillas de ruedas,” they giggle: “So weird!” Apolonia worries that wheelchair basketball and her Mexican American family won’t mix. Finally, she tells Mamá to cancel the party, “because I’m always so different…even from you.” But the next day, Mamá brings Apolonia to the gym, where friends and family surprise her with a flawless fiesta. Apolonia’s heart soars as she joins the basketball game: “Everyone is there. Juntos. All of Apolonia!” Energetic, expressive cartoon illustrations convey Apolonia’s many emotions and, above all, her family’s love. In an author’s note, Prevo defines inclusion, belonging, and social identity and explains that the story is based on her experiences as a Mexican and disabled person. Readers navigating multiple cultural identities will empathize with Apolonia’s conflicting feelings, and disabled readers will welcome the acknowledgment that being disabled in a nondisabled family can be lonely. All will cheer for Apolonia. Interspersed Spanish words are understandable through context. Apolonia and Mamá have tan skin; her family’s complexions vary.

A heartwarming story of family and belonging.