The fifth book of a series about the everyday adventures of a young girl named Jessie who has two moms. Here, she’s off to spend the day with Georgia’s family. Georgia’s relationship to Jessie is never explained except on the back cover, where she’s identified as Jessie’s nanny (though readers of the first book may know this). Georgia also lives with her own son, Jerome, and Jerome’s grandparents, Papi and Nana. At their house, Papi shows Jessie and Jerome his art studio and they all paint pictures together, while Papi encourages the children to use their imaginations to inspire their work. At the end of the day, Jessie proudly returns home with her picture to show her moms.
Young readers will likely appreciate Jessie’s kids’-eye observations about her world. The story is pure dialog, which helps immerse readers in Jessie’s world, although the lack of dialog tags make it occasionally hard to tell who is speaking. Still, this is an earnest and cheerful story in which the fact that Jessie has two moms is purely incidental to the tale. Readers should also note that the “Jamaica” of the title doesn’t refer to the country, but rather to an area of Queens, New York (which is explained on the back cover). Jessie and her moms are White; Georgia and her family read as Black, although Georgia makes arroz con pollo for lunch, which may indicate some Latinx heritage, too.
