(Holiday House Publishing)
(pub. 9.4.2018)
40 pages
A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top
A uthor and illustrator:
Yuyi Morales
C haracter: Joan Procter
O verview from the jacket flap:
"What if you dreamed of a new life, and it came to you?
A Cherry On Top
A uthor and illustrator:
Yuyi Morales
C haracter: Joan Procter
O verview from the jacket flap:
"What if you dreamed of a new life, and it came to you?
What if that new life led you to a new country, where no one spoke your language, where you felt alone and ignored?
What if you had to make that new place your home?
What if you found that home in a world of books?
And what if it all were true?"
T antalizing taste:
"There were so many things we didn't know.
Unable to understand and afraid to speak, we made lots of mistakes.
You and I became caminantes.
Thousands and thousands of steps we took around this land, until the day we found ...
a place we had never seen before.
Suspicious.
Improbable.
Unbelievable.
Surprising.
Unimaginable.
Where we didn't need to speak, we only needed to trust.
And we did!
Books became our language.
Books became our home.
Books became our lives."
And something more: At the back of the book, Yuyi Morales explains in "My Story": "All of us have stories. Each of them is different. This story began in 1994, when I crossed a bridge with my two-month-old son, Kelly, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas... I had come so that my son could meet his great-grandfather... and to marry Kelly's father, a US citizen... I wanted to return to Mexico soon afterward, but was shocked to learn that because of US immigration rules and my new status as a 'permanent resident,' I was now expected to remain in the United States. I had become an immigrant. But could I possibly call this new place my home?...
Then one day Kelly's grandmother brought us to ... the public library... I had never been in a place where you could just take books from the shelves without asking and without being scolded... And there were picture books, something I had not encountered before. I could not believe how beautiful and sturdy they were [and] the power of their illustrations....And something more: At the back of the book, Yuyi Morales explains in "My Story": "All of us have stories. Each of them is different. This story began in 1994, when I crossed a bridge with my two-month-old son, Kelly, from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas... I had come so that my son could meet his great-grandfather... and to marry Kelly's father, a US citizen... I wanted to return to Mexico soon afterward, but was shocked to learn that because of US immigration rules and my new status as a 'permanent resident,' I was now expected to remain in the United States. I had become an immigrant. But could I possibly call this new place my home?...
One of the most important things I learned at the library is that through books we can find our path and our purpose...
Kelly and I were Dreamers in the sense that all immigrants, regardless of our status, are Dreamers: we enter a new country carried by hopes and dreams, and carrying our own special gifts, to build a better future."
6 comments:
This was SUCH a beautiful book. I loved the artwork, but also the emphasis on what our libraries offer those in need. Thanks for sharing this one. Have a wonderful week of reading, Jeanne!
Hi 2Shaye,
I couldn't agree with you more! I needed to included it in my posts because of the first-hand connection to immigration, but also the testimony of the saving grace public libraries can and do provide.
Thanks for stopping by!
I also loved this book. I loved all the book titles and how libraries made such a huge difference in her life.
HI Cheriee,
Yes, exactly! It's wonderful that the book shares how much impact libraries make in people's lives.
Thanks for stopping by!
Oh I fell in love with this book last year - such beauty and truth. :)
Hi Myra,
Exactly! I fell in love with this book too, and I had to include it on my blog even though it's from last year.
Thanks for stopping by!
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