About This Book:
Will Paloma and her parents someday find their way back to home and family? A Chilean artist tells an emotionally resonant, beautifully illustrated immigration story through a child’s eyes.
Paloma’s home has changed. The dictator who took over the country has stripped its people of their freedoms, and it’s no longer OK to think for yourself. So, like birds, Paloma and her parents fly away in search of a new home, without a chance to pack or say goodbye. The new country is different and generous, and their arrival is a big adventure. Though things are unfamiliar and Paloma misses the country she left, her new friends are soon like family, and she feels right at home. Then she grows older, and more changes come, and Paloma and family are flying away again, to a country she can barely remember . . . With a simple narration and stunning illustrations, María J. Guarda brings us a tender story about home, family, and identity during times of immeasurable change.
*Review Contributed by Karen Yingling, Staff Reviewer*
The vague descriptions of Paloma’s home country, and the country to which her family travels for their new life, make this a book that can mirror the experiences of many different cultures. While not all families leave because of dictators, many do. Also, while going back to a country one had to leave might not be overly common, it is probably a hope that some children hold.
Readers can either see themselves and their families’ experiences in a book about immigration, or gain empathy about what some of their classmates might have gone through. Add this to Choi’s The Name Jar, Betancourt-Perez and Williams A Thousand White Butterflies, and especially Park and Choi’s Good-Bye, 382 Shin Dang Dong for a look at how children navigate immigration issues.
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