A girl reflects on life with her two moms, from her babyhood when she accompanied her Mommy on business trips, to her life today that she spends home with Ma, missing Mommy but happy when they are all together at bedtime.
The child narrator first tells readers about her babyhood, when she went with her Mommy, a human rights advocate, to various conferences across the country, and even to the steps of the Supreme Court. Now, however, she is too old to do that, but instead spends her days with her other mom, Ma. She and Ma do lots of fun things together, but the girl is always asking, “Ma, Where’s Mommy?” to which Ma responds, “Mommy’s at work.”
We then see an image of Mommy giving a stirring speech, holding an infant. I think this is supposed to represent a flashback to when the girl would accompany her, but that’s unclear, given that the image comes after the inquiry about where Mommy is now; young readers may think she now has another baby.
The girl reflects that both of her moms are loud; one yells for equal rights to win and the other yells for her sports team to win. The girl herself is loud when she’s hungry. Ma then helps the sleepy girl get ready for bed, and Mommy comes home, just in time for prayers. Although Mommy is away a lot, “When we are together we have fun. I love my family!”
Some parts of the story feel overly specific in ways that may go over the heads of young readers. For example, the girl says, “My Ma told me I went to Power Rising and people called me the ‘Power Rising Baby,'” although we are never told what Power Rising is, just that the girl met “iconic Black women” there. Some additional context might have been helpful, e.g., by noting that Power Rising is “a place where Black women get together to talk about how to change the world,” or words to that effect. Adult readers in the know may want to fill in that detail (along with explaining what it means to “advocate” and what the U.S. Supreme Court is).
I also wonder if the girl similarly missed Ma when she was traveling with Mommy when younger; that is never addressed.
Grace and her family are Black, adding to the small but growing number of LGBTQ-inclusive picture books starring families of color, and the story helpfully shows us a girl adapting to changes in her family life, including having a parent who is often absent for work (but who always returns for quality family time).
