Skip to main content

Isla to Island

By

 

Isla to Island
By Alexis Castellanos
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2022. Graphic Novel.

In this mostly wordless picture book based on true events, a young girl named Marisol lives with her parents in Cuba during the early 60s.  Marisol's life is colorful, happy, and filled with the books she so loves.  Sadly, Marisol's family's happiness is threatened when Fidel Castro comes into power and Cuba is in unrest.  Marisol's parents, fearing for Marisol's safety, send her to New York to live and hopefully be safe until they can be reunited.  New York is so different from Cuba--here everything seems lonely, drab, and grey, and although the older couple who take Marisol in are kind, Marisol can't understand them.  School is even worse.  There she's bullied, lonely, and confused.  Only when she discovered the library at school does color start to come back into her life.  

This book proves that you don't need dialogue and lots of verbal imagery or background to learn to love characters and become fully invested in their story.  Marisol was so loveable and relatable.  The stark contrast between the colorful images of her life in Cuba with her parents and the colorless imagery once she makes it to New York really portray how alone and sad Marisol feels being away from home and family.  I loved Marisol's connection to books and how discovering them in New York made her feel more at home there.  A wonderful story that builds empathy towards the immigrant experience and helps the reader walk in someone else's shoes. Highly recommend.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

By
Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.
Post a Comment
Read more

Dragon Run

By
Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...
1 comment
Read more

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

By
We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...
Post a Comment
Read more