GREETINGS, LEROY

In this loving tale of family migration and making home anew, young Roy’s embrace of Bob Marley gives him comfort on his first day of school after the family moves to Canada.

Roy’s family is beginning a new life in an unnamed Canadian town (probably Toronto), where, most briskly, Roy recognizes the supreme contradiction a Jamaican new to Canada experiences. “Leroy, the sun was shining bright, bright outside, but when I put my head out the window, my ears felt a little cold,” he explains in an email to his friend back home. After two unanswered emails, Roy is writing his third missive to his buddy, the titular Leroy. Roy and his father share a deep love of “one of the world’s greatest and most caring musicians,” Bob Marley, and his Irish-immigrant neighbor, Ms. Muir, offers him a signature button of Marley’s to wear on his first day of school. When Roy’s classmates welcome him with his favorite tune “One Love,” he looks down to realize that his button is missing. Will he find his button? Will Leroy ever respond to his email? These are the turnkey questions of this lighthearted tale. Sadu and Delinois neatly honor the cultural contributions made by the longtime community of Jamaicans that have settled in Canada, bridging the two worlds to make home anew.

A much-needed window and mirror of immigrant experience for young readers.