Hoping to connect with Papi at a park in San Diego, mother and daughter travel south with relatives. Tragically, they are stopped by border patrol and sent to a detention center. Conditions in the facility are despicable. Detainees live inside a chain link fence cage and sleep on a concrete floor with only a foil blanket. Unsanitary conditions and poor food threaten the life of Mami and the child developing within her womb. They endure daily acts of senseless hostility and cruelty.

Betita recalls her father's stories of their proud heritage. They are travelers from the land of the cranes. Now Betita is longer able to soar. Confined to a wire cage, hope seems lost. This resourceful girl discovers a way to cope. Her fourth-grade teacher showed her how to create picture poems, recording her life with words and images. She keeps a daily journal using her poetry and art to express her feelings.

There are no simple solutions. With little hope for asylum, there seems to be no influential individual that can rescue this suffering family. Mami eventually decides to sacrifice her dream of freedom and security to save herself and her two children. The plight of these individuals is painful to witness.

The Land of Lost Cranes, a fictionalization depiction of undocumented individuals, is gut wrenching. ​This novel in verse, exquisitely expressing a young girl’s longing, will find a place in the hearts of readers everywhere.

These picture books introduce youngster to tales of immigrants coming to American from Mexico and the Caribbean.

It's a rich mythology, replete with magical powers, witches, and sorcery. The struggle between good and evil, featuring a diminutive hero fighting against powerful forces will captivate readers. Make room on your shelves for this graphic novel series.

Camila constructs an elaborate charade to conceal from her family her passion for fútbol and her identity as La Furia. She tells her mother that she is with a friend when she participates in games and team practice. So that she can’t be contacted, she allows her phone to run out of minutes. She waits until no one is home to wash her uniform and pretends to study for an upcoming medical school entrance exam.
Her life is further complicated when a childhood friend, now an international fútbol star, returns to Argentina for a brief visit. It is apparent to both that this is more than friendship. The attraction is mutual. Camila faces a heart wrenching dilemma. Does she abandon her dream of becoming a world class athlete and follow the guy who makes her heart sing? Or does she remain focused on her life-long ambition and reject his offer of a life together?

This story is about choices. Hard choices. Camila agonizes over her decisions, recognizing that with each choice, she may be closing a door. Will she choose to follow her passion for fútbol or succumb to her desire to be with the boy she loves? Can she stand up to her abusive father? Will she remain silent? Can she confide in her mother?

Narration moves fluidly between Spanish and English. Madariaga flawlessly differentiates the varying degrees of English fluency among her Spanish-speaking characters. Singing flows beautifully as a natural extension of the narration. The longing, indecision, frustration, and passion of an older teen is clearly evident in this performance.

The author obviously knows and loves the sport. The play by play descriptions bring readers onto the pitch, delivering immediacy and fierce intensity to the narrative. Méndez storytelling is a polished gem. Her characters are multifaceted. The narrative reveals their sparkling qualities as well as inherent flaws. Their lives are messy. There are no simple solutions. Things are not perfect. However, there is hope.
Furia is intense, filled with desires and dreams, heartache and disappointment, pain and passion. Camila is a girl of my heart.

Immigrants. Leaving the world you know and venturing into the unfamiliar. Escaping oppression, violence, poverty, deprivation. For some, the only option is to flee. Several books published in 2020 for teens and middle grade students focus on the immigrant experience. In the face of uncertainty and fear, these are stories of hope.

​Readers will note that the narrative does not move in a linear fashion. There are spirals which move forward only to fall back, then spin forward again. All are encompassed within a slowly revolving story arc. It sounds a bit messy, but the story threads are easy to follow.
Everything Sad is Untrue (a true story) is a book like no other. It's like claiming a seat in that Oklahoma classroom and being transported to a world that is somehow familiar and yet one that you never knew existed. ​

​Unfortunately, the family restaurant is experiencing a significant financial downturn. Yumi wants to quit the prestigious and expensive private school favored by her parents and enroll in the new Performing Arts Magnet School.
She is juggling working at the restaurant, attending morning test prep classes, maintaining the pretense of studying daily at the library, preparing a routine for an upcoming comedy club showcase, and assuming the identity of another workshop participant. It all comes crashing down. 
Readers will sympathize with Yumi as she tries to unravel the mess that she has created, support the family's business, honor her parents’ wishes, and find a way to realize her dream. Everything doesn't work out perfectly. There are heartbreaking moments and several compromises. However... there are jokes!
​Like Korean barbecue Stand Up, Yumi Chung! is sweet with a few salty tears but definitely savory. YUM! ​Kudos Jessica Kim.

Their fortunes begin to look up when, desperate for suitable clothing to wear in the oppressive heat, Esther designs and sews a lightweight comfortable dress to replace her heavy woolen clothing. By hand, she sews similar dresses for her friends. Several of her creations are displayed in a local shop. Then the miraculous happens. Esther receives a sewing machine. With help from her father, the two make attractive lightweight dresses for women in the village. Eventually her designs are sold to a buyer in Havana. Now there is hope that she can earn enough money to reunite her family in Cuba. After some tense moments, the family obtains the necessary money to emigrate.
Esther is the star of this story. Her resourcefulness, hard work, willingness to try new things, and acceptance of other cultures and customs make the story shine.
This epistolary middle grade novel was inspired by Behar's grandmother’s journey from Poland to Cuba. Her story offers young readers a fresh perspective on a contemporary issue. ​ Letters from Cuba is a mind-opening, heart-expanding look at the plight of immigrants, the far-reaching effects of World War II, and the stain of racism. ​

Note: ​All author royalties from this book will go to local shelters for immigrants.

​Drawings are clean and uncluttered, keeping the focus on these young siblings. Each frame becomes a metaphor for life within the refugee camp. Omar remains trapped inside the confining panel boundaries. There are a few instances where Omar breaks through the restrictive lines which limit him. The inference is that education breaks the confines that hold him captive.
Color tends to be flat except the expanse of sky, where a breathtaking array of hues ranging from soft pinks to deep blues are sprinkled with the glimmering pinpoints of tiny stars. The sky appears limitless.
​Jamieson takes a few liberties with Mohamed's story, fleshing out the narrative with additional characters. Two fictional camp residents deal with the harsh realities for girls in this society: few basic personal supplies, limited education opportunities, and arranged marriages at a young age.
​​With extraordinary grace and simplicity, Mohamed and Jamieson put a name and a face on the plight of refugees. The suffering and unsettled circumstances are evident on every page. Without undue sentimentality or overwrought emotion, young Omar’s story is simple and straightforward yet powerful in its impact.
This graphic novelization of Omar’s life as a refugee is heart wrenching and eye opening. It's the story of the bond that connects siblings, living with a disabled family member, a repressive view of women, and the long-lasting aftereffects of war. Notwithstanding these obstacles, this is a story of hope.

​She is angry with her father who mysteriously vanishes for long periods of time. She resents her mother for what she perceives as abandonment of her children. She feels that she must accept responsibility for Willy and be the mother he no longer has. This is a heavy burden for a young girl to carry.
When her life in Juárez is forever gone, she makes a startling discovery. Her father is more than a courier. He is a hit man.
​Julia is devastated. Her pain bleeds across her diary pages.
She enters an American high school with a few glimmers of hope. She makes a friend and tells him of her shameful secret. Her great grandmother becomes a source of constancy and comfort. Mamá reunites with Julia and Willy in the United States and takes tentative steps to reconnecting with family. 
The Everything I Have Lost is a story that is bleak and often terrifying. It paints a picture of survival and finding hope when things seem hopeless. Zéleny's prose is poignant and piercing in its honesty and humanity. 

​Dr Lee, his children Tommy and Roberta, and mandarin-speaking wife move from Chinatown to a suburban Metropolis home. Sadly, some people do not welcome the Lee family. They are subjected to subtle and overt racism. One night Tommy and Roberta watch in horror when hooded Klansmen chant “One Race! One Color! One Religion!" and burn a cross in their neighborhood.
Superman is having his own interior conflict. Readers follow a flashback when young Clark decides that his incredible powers are an unwelcome stigma. He resolves to conceal his capabilities, hoping for acceptance among his peers. Years later, Superman's parents from Krypton appear to their adult son and encourage him to accept and use all his remarkable strengths.
Things end well. After a frightening abduction, an injury, and a harrowing escape, the leaders of the Klan are exposed and their plans for destruction are foiled.
The script is laced with clever dialog as well as tongue-in-cheek humor. While characters remain true-to-form, Yang fleshes out the Superman with a compelling backstory. Smooth segues between the two story lines create a seamless narrative.
Gurihiru's art has a distinctive 1940's vibe. Panel size and placement moves the story forward at a fast pace. Large two-page illustration spreads are background for panel inserts which advance the action. A dazzling two-page spread exposes the horror of cross burning. Angled panels accentuate action sequences.
​The author’s note, "Superman and Me" provides context to Superman Smashes the Klan. Gene Luen Yang interweaves the development of the Superman mythos, a brief history of targeting Chinese Americans and other marginalized people, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, and challenges faced by immigrants. The account is broad in its scope while also a deeply personal reflection on superheroes, bigotry, and the immigrant experience.

​Looking for ways to help refugees? 

The two have an explosive secret: a cell phone containing damning photographs and documents detailing human trafficking that originates in Mexico and extends into the United States. Those involved include a federal government employee. Before they part ways, Sara entrusts the phone to her brother. Sara and Emiliano must protect this valuable piece of evidence without endangering one another.

Stork ratchets up the tension as both lives are on the line. Sara is locked in solitary confinement within a detention center in Fort Stockton Texas because she refuses to disclose the whereabouts of her brother. Emiliano tries to stay one step ahead of a killer hired to track down the phone. It’s a nail biting, intense read.

The narrative includes fascinating details about everything from technical processes used to open a phone to some of the legal intricacies in the asylum process. There are striking contrasts: Emiliano sharing tender moments with his half brother while Sara endures horrific cruelty. A stunning betrayal keeps the central characters constantly questioning who to trust. Both siblings are faced with moral dilemmas. There are no easy solutions. Every choice has positive and negative consequences. ​

​​​This young girl faces an uncertain and frightening existence. She must adjust to a new city, new home, new school, new language. She is angry with her father who mysteriously vanishes for long periods of time. She resents her mother for what she perceives as abandonment of her children. She feels that she must accept responsibility for Willy and be the mother he no longer has. This is a heavy burden for a young girl to carry.

When her life in Juárez is forever gone, she makes a startling discovery.
Her father is more than a courier. He is a hit man.
​Julia is devastated. Her pain bleeds across her diary pages.

She enters an American high school with a few glimmers of hope. She makes a friend and shares with him her shameful secrets. Her great grandmother becomes a source of constancy and comfort. After her husband dies, Mamá reunites with Julia and Willy in the United States and takes tentative steps to reconnecting with family. 

The Everything I Have Lost is a story that is bleak and often terrifying. It paints a picture of survival and finding hope when things seem hopeless. Zéleny's prose is poignant and piercing in its honesty and humanity. A story that readers will not soon forget.

"Hold on to your dreams...When times get tough, hold on tight and don't let go."
Reyna Grande