 | Isabel in bloom Author: Respicio, Mae | |
| Price: $7.37 | ||
Summary:
Making friends in a new city, and new country, is hard for twelve-year-old Isabel, but joining the gardening and cooking club at school helps her find her way.
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (03/01/24)
School Library Journal (00/04/24)
Booklist (02/15/24)
The Hornbook (00/07/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 02/15/2024 Twelve-year-old Isabel “Isa” Ligaya is about to move from the Philippines to California. Her mother is balikbayan, a Filipino citizen living and working in another country, and has been in America for the past five years. She finally sends for Isa, who must leave her grandparents and their special garden. Her lolo tells her to look for something familiar in California to feel less homesick, but everything is new: new school, new food, new friends. Even her mom feels like a stranger, always busy working during the day and going to nursing school at night. Isa feels alone and out of place until she finally spots something familiar at school: a garden. Respicio’s novel in verse tackles the emotional journey of sacrifice and opportunity that many new immigrants experience, as well as the plight of Filipinos living abroad to earn money. It is in good company with other novels in verse that detail the new immigrant experience through a child's eyes, such as Marilyn Hilton's Full Cicada Moon (2015) and Jasmine Warga's Other Words for Home (2019). - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
