But they were furious when we ran out of reading time before we finished the three new books from Lee and Low. Abuela's Weave by Omar Castaneda tells the story of a Guatemalan grandmother and her grandchild. The two weave intricate tapestries of their country's rich past and they weave their lives together with threads of dreams, hopes, and intergenerational love. Both of them fear failure in the marketplace because of the grandmother's birthmark which has before branded her as a witch in their small village. In the end, the weave of relationship and cloth bring them through fear and separation to success.
Illustrations are a whirl of color and emotion.
Ken Mochizuki's Baseball Saved Us begins in a California internment camp during World War II . The author uses baseball to show how a Japanese boy changes prejudice and racial hatred into a constructive anger that earns him the respect and honor of his family and teammates. Illustrations are monochromatic and dramatic. Dakari Hru's Joshua's Masai Mask is the story of an African-American boy who finds his way beyond the image of cool by basing his attitude on the richness of his heritage and his inner music. The agent of change is a Masai mask that lets Joshua slip in and out of several eye-opening perspectives.