Sunday, November 22, 2020

~ MMGM FEATURE BETWEEN US AND ABUELA ~

~ MARVELOUS MIDDLE-GRADE
MONDAY HOLIDAY PICTURE
BOOK FEATURE ~
--  'BETWEEN US AND ABUELA:
A FAMILY STORY FROM THE BORDER'  --
AUTHOR MITALI PERKINS
ILLUSTRATED BY:  SARA PALACIOS
  

 

ABOUT THE BOOK  {from Goodreads}:

  • Winner of the AmΓ©ricas Award
  • ALA Notable Book for Children
  • Notable Social Studies Trade Book
  • NCTE Charlotte Huck Honor Award
  • Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book of the Year


"Mitali Perkins’ story is a perfect introduction for children to how borders separate families, delicately embracing the reunion’s joy and enduring sadness. Sara Palacios’ illustrations cheerfully capture the love among separated families as well as the realities of the border wall. This superb picture book is a holiday story that deserves to be a year-round read." — BookPage, starred review

"A story of family strength and unity overcoming fences along the Mexican/United States border ... Another poignant piece to add to the current national discussion about the border. A must for any collection." — School Library Journal, starred review

"...Maria; her little brother, Juan; and their mother take a bus to the U.S. side to hear the Christmas story, sing carols, worship with other separated families, and have a fleeting face-to-face moment through the fencing with beloved Abuela, who has traveled from her Mexican village to see them for the first time in five years ... Cartoon drawings emphasize the resilience of Abuela and her family as they navigate the border landscape, the impenetrable wall, and a situation that feels unfathomable—but is, unfortunately, all too based in reality." ― Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Our kid reviewers were immediately invested in this story of a family from San Diego that takes a bus to meet Abuela (whom they haven’t seen in five years) at the fence along the border."
Parents Magazine

ABOUT THE BOOK:  {from Amazon}:

From award-winning author Mitali Perkins and illustrator Sara Palacios comes Between Us and Abuela, a timely debut picture book about love overcoming the border fences between Mexico and the United States.

It's almost time for Christmas, and Maria is traveling with her mother and younger brother, Juan, to visit their grandmother on the border of California and Mexico. For the few minutes they can share together along the fence, Maria and her brother plan to exchange stories and Christmas gifts with the grandmother they haven't seen in years. But when Juan's gift is too big to fit through the slats in the fence, Maria must figure out a way to get it to abuela. Here is a heartwarming tale of multicultural families, and the miracle of love.

LINK TO A PREVIEW OF THE BOOK ON THE PUBLISHER'S WEBSITE:  https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780374303730

ABOUT THE AUTHOR {from Goodreads}:

Mitali Perkins has written many novels for young readers, including You Bring the Distant Near (nominated for the National Book Award) Rickshaw Girl (a NYPL best 100 Book for children in the past 100 years, film adaptation coming in 2021), Bamboo People (an ALA Top 10 YA novel), and Tiger Boy, which won the South Asia Book Award for Younger Readers. She currently writes and resides in the San Francisco Bay Area: www.mitaliperkins.com.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR {from the Publisher}:

Sara Palacios was the recipient of the 2012 Pura BelprΓ© Illustrator Honor Award for her work on Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match. A native of Mexico, Sara graduated from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City and went on to earn BFA and MFA degrees in illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. She illustrates for companies in both the United States and Mexico.

MY THOUGHTS:
I do not want to reveal too much about this book because one of the beautiful things about this touching story is the element of surprise as you read through each page and absorb the lovely illustrations and the meaning of the events in the story. Children will delight at the culminating event of the narrative.

This is a story of family, love, loyalty, ingenuity, and determination. It would make a powerful read-aloud for families, library storytimes, church groups, and classrooms. Even though Amazon has listed the age range for the book at 3-6 years old, I feel the maturity level required to understand some of the serious issues dealt with and nuances hinted at in the text makes this a lower middle-grade story. For whatever age group is reading it or listening to it, valuable discussions will ensue about this issues addressed which are currently affecting our nation and many nations around the world.

Highly-recommended as a read-aloud for the reasons expressed above.

I borrowed this book from the local public library.
 
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Find the links to read more great Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts from middle-grade authors and bloggers at Greg Pattridge's 'Always in the Middle' Blog.

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Find the links to more great 'It's Monday! What Are You Reading?' (#IMWAYR) posts for children's and Young Adult books over at the Unleashing Readers website.

πŸ“•πŸ“—πŸ“˜πŸ“™πŸ“•πŸ“—πŸ“˜πŸ“™πŸ“•πŸ“—πŸ“˜πŸ“™πŸ“•πŸ“—πŸ“˜πŸ“™πŸ“•πŸ“—πŸ“˜

  
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5 comments:

  1. Thanks for the recommend. This would serve well as a read-aloud and spark many discussions. Another great feature, June, for today's MMGM!

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  2. It is important to introduce children to stories about border families in a way that is meaningful! But, I agree, age is important. Will be looking for this book. I read "Efren Divided" and I remember Efren's first reaction to seeing the border wall.

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  3. This sounds like a wonderful picture book. I will keep it in mind for a gift for my nephew. Thanks.

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  4. This sounds like a beautiful story! Like Patricia Tilton, I remember some of the scenes about the border wall from EfrΓ©n Divided, and they were quite heartbreaking but necessary to see, so I appreciate this book tackling that as well! Thanks for the wonderful review!

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  5. This sounds lovely. Thanks for telling me about it. I will check it out.

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