In this warm and insightful graphic novel, tween Ave, their mom, and their younger brother Ramón are relocating to the U.S. from Mexico, because of their mom’s new job teaching at the University of Kansas. Ave’s teen sister Cruz and their dad are staying behind, however; their parents are separating. Cruz only has a Mexican passport, while Ave and their brother were born in the U.S., so the siblings are living apart as well.
Ave is having a difficult time adjusting; they don’t speak English well, aren’t making friends as fast as Ramón, and miss Cruz terribly, despite video calls. As the story unfolds, however, we see Ave start to connect with other kids who also have Mexican heritage, and with one who is also nonbinary, although each youth’s stories and feelings about their heritage happily differs.
Author Jose Pimienta thoughtfully explores the connections among identity, language, culture, and place, set against the background of a major familial shift and the broader background of changing policies around the border and immigration. Ave’s nonbinary identity is not a focus, but they and Cruz do have a conversation about why, although their parents have always accepted their nonbinary identity, the parents are still trying to learn and to rethink their expectations.
Pimienta’s warm and expressive illustrations skillfully capture both the Mexicali landscapes of the family’s original home as well as the urban setting of the university, and most importantly, complement the text to show us more about the characters’ moods and feelings.
Highly recommended.
