Crucial in its timeliness.
The son of undocumented immigrants learns about what threatens to tear apart his family.
Hooray! Enrique’s soccer team is going to the tournament. There’s only one problem: Enrique must get his permission slip signed by his father, who refuses to sign it for fear of what will happen when Enrique travels through the checkpoint. “If they find something on your papers, they could send us back across the border, split us up,” says Papá. Though Enrique’s a U.S. citizen by birthright, Papá, Mamá, and his sister, Rosa, all live in the U.S. as undocumented immigrants. Papá’s refusal to sign the permission slip enrages Enrique, who fears that he’s letting down his team. “Why did his father worry so much?” When rumors of a migra roundup begin to circulate, Enrique’s family takes refuge at his tía’s home, where Papá finally shares with Enrique the full story of the family’s difficult journey across the border. While Williams never explicitly pins down the specific geographical context or the family’s cultural background (the artwork depicts them as brown-skinned and places a Mexican national soccer team banner on Enrique’s bedroom wall), this demonstrative tale nonetheless commits to a portrait of an immigrant experience that’s full of uncertainty due to the U.S. government’s heavily anti-immigrant agenda. The author’s use of text that’s direct and blunt in message clearly expresses the weight of what’s always at stake, even though this commitment to frankness leads to some abrupt tonal shifts. Palacios’ colorful, bright pictures exude enough warmth to push back against the bleakness that threatens to overwhelm.
Crucial in its timeliness. (author's note, resource list, further reading) (Picture book. 5-9)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5490-2
Page Count: 44
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books.
Curious about the Big Wide World outside his Sasquatch community, Hugo makes a friend who is of it.
Sasquatch Hugo’s bedroom is inside a cave and possesses the charming feature of a small stream running through it that he can sail his little toy boat on. It’s cool, but he yearns to see the Big Wide World. When he asks his smart friend Gigi if a Sasquatch might become a sailor, she says it’s possible but would be difficult—the primary rule of their people is to not be seen by Humans. Then, in everyone’s favorite Hide and Go Sneak class, which is held outside, a Human appears; Hugo laughs at the sight, drawing Human attention in a taboo-breaking mistake. Shortly after, Hugo’s toy boat floats into the cave with a Human toy—soon, it’s facilitating a pen-pal–type relationship that’s derailed when Hugo confesses to being a Sasquatch and Human Boone, a budding cryptozoologist, doesn’t believe him. How Hugo and Boone resolve this misapprehension and become friends in a joint search for the Ogopogo concludes this series opener. Potter keeps the third-person narrative tightly focused on Hugo’s perspective, and the details she uses to flesh out the Sasquatch world are delightfully playful. Sala’s drawings depict a homey Sasquatch cavern community, Boone as a freckled, white boy, and Hugo as a hairily benevolent behemoth.
A charming friendship story and great setup for future books. (final art unseen) (Fantasy. 5-9)Pub Date: April 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2859-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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