Draft:Dear Abuelo
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| Author | Grecia Huesca Dominguez |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Teresa Martinez |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's Picture Book |
| Publisher | Reycraft Books |
Publication date | October 15, 2019 |
| Publication place | United States of America |
| ISBN | 978-1-4788-6799-9 |
Dear Abuelo is a children’s book written by Grecia Huesca Dominguez[1] and illustrated by Teresa Martinez. It was published on October 15, 2019 in New York City, New York, by Reycraft Books. The book follows a little girl named Juana, who moves with her Mom from Mexico to New York. Throughout the book, she writes her Abuelo many letters, talking about the transition and how she is handling it. Juana has trouble finding her place amongst the other students in her class. She feels as if she stands out because she doesn’t speak English like the other children. Juana also feels like she doesn’t have a common name since her teacher keeps mispronouncing it. This upsets her and she talks to her mom about it, who tells her that she is lucky because she is named after her Abuela. Her discomfort changes when she finds a girl at her school who is just like her. By becoming friends with this girl, Juana is able to find her place in her new home.
According to Amina Chaudhri, picture books like these are important to people who have immigrated from different countries, so they can see themselves in a book.[2] Even if a child didn't immigrate from another country, reading about immigration can help show them how others live, according to Amy Cummins.[3] This book is also very important to the author, as it is inspired by her own immigration story. According to Medium, Huesca Dominguez moved to the United States from Mexico when she was ten years old and is a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient.[4] She said that she never saw any books that represented her and her story growing up, so she decided to write her own. Huesca Dominguez hopes that by writing her own book, she can inspire other children that were like her, and give them a book that they can see themselves in.[5] According to Emily LaRosa, since being published, Dear Abuelo has been named one of Bank Street’s 2020 Books of the year, as well as a finalist of the 2020 Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award.[6]
Plot
[edit]A little girl named Juana moves with her Mom from Mexico to New York. She writes her Abuelo many letters, talking about how the transition is and how she is handling it. She moves into an apartment right next to Central Park and practices a lot of different English words for her first day of school. When the day arrives, Juana gets on the bus to go to school and is confused at what people are saying to her because she only speaks Spanish.
She writes to her Abuelo, saying how her teacher called her Joanna instead of Juana, and how it bothered her. Juana feels like she should have a name that is easier to pronounce in English because her name stands out. When she tells her mom about this, her mom says that growing up she always wanted a special name that stood out because Maria was such a common name. She also reminds Juana that her name is beautiful since she was named after her Abuela. Juana's mom hangs up a picture of her Abuela in her room so that she always remembers that her name is as beautiful as her grandmother.
Juana writes to her Abuelo, telling him that she has met a girl who's family is also from Mexico. Her name is Elizabeth and she speaks both English and Spanish because she was born in America. The two of them become class buddies; Juana feels really happy about it and draws her Abuelo a picture of what Elizabeth looks like. After becoming closer, Elizabeth suggests to Juana that she should tell the teacher that she pronounced her name wrong. Eventually, Juana goes up to her with Elizabeth by her side and tells the teacher that she pronounced her name wrong. Juana’s teacher is happy to find out how to pronounce her name.
With the help of the librarian, Juana is able to find books she can read that are written in Spanish. Juana writes to her Abuelo saying how she thinks she is going to like the school she is attending. At the end of the story, she finds a book by an author named Juana and it inspires her to one day write a book in both English and Spanish.
Theme
[edit]Change
[edit]Change is a major theme seen throughout Dear Abuelo and is shown through the main character, Juana. According to Marcia Baghban, many children who immigrate from other countries feel hopeless, and feel hopeless because they had no control over their family’s decision to immigrate.[7] Likewise, Baghban also says that children have to adjust to the changes in culture. Many are used to practicing different customs or celebrating different holidays that aren't necessarily practiced as much in the new country. This can be seen in Dear Abuelo, when Juana talks about missing her Abuelo and Mexico. Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez said in a review that Huesca Dominguez did a great job at showing the struggles young immigrants face and combining it with the joys of being a child.[8]
Baghban also talks about the change that happens to one’s name when immigrating from a country into another one. She states that when a child changes culture, their name is one of the first things they must pronounce for others and explain.[7] Likewise, Mariana Soto-Manning touches on the fact that a lot of times, immigrant children who are at school are renamed by educators.[9] In Dear Abuelo, we can see how this topic is sensitive when it comes to Juana and her name. On her first day of class, her teacher pronounces her name wrong and calls her Joanna. She is too scared to correct her and so she goes the whole day not saying anything about it. She even goes back home and asks her mom why she didn’t give her a name that is easier to say in English. When Juana meets her friend Elizabeth, she finally gets the courage to go tell her teacher that her name is pronounced differently. Alejandra Rodriguez also stated in her review that she really appreciated the fact that Elizabeth, who is a child, was the one who was brave enough to go up to the teacher and tell her that she pronounced Juana’s name wrong. She also really appreciated that the teacher was open to her correction.[8] All of these factors are just some of the changes that Juana goes through when she moves to New York, and can be seen present throughout the children’s book.
Family
[edit]Family is another major theme that can be seen throughout Dear Abuelo by Grecia Huesca Dominquez. The whole children’s book is centered around the fact that Juana, the main character, is writing letters to her Abuelo about how her transition from Mexico to the United States is. She talks about her ups and downs, as well as how she feels out of place at her school because no one else is like her. According to Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez, Teresa Martinez, the illustrator did a wonderful job at showing how Juana is feeling through the art in the book.[8] Mexico is represented by the artist with bright flower garlands that go across the pages of the book. When Juana lands in New York, the flowers disappear because she has a difficult time fitting in and misses her family. After a while, Juana becomes friends with Elizabeth and the flower garlands grow back. This represents the tie that Juana has to Mexico and her family back there. They also help show her growth in America.
According to Marcia Baghban, a lot of times, many families cannot all immigrate at the same time and are forced to be divided.[7] This can be seen in the book when Juana and her mom immigrate to America, but her Abuelo stays behind. Although she struggles at first, we can see how Juana keeps her ties to her home country and her Abuelo when she shares her adventures and experiences in America. Alejandra Rodriguez talks about how the letters allow Juana to process her emotions about leaving her family behind and can strengthen long distance family relationships, which in change can help Juana not feel as lonely in America.[8] Through writing her Abuelo letters, Juana is able to stay in touch with him, even when he is thousands of miles away.
References
[edit]- ^ "Home". Grecia Huesca Dominguez. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Esmail, Ashraf; Pitre, Abul; Ross, Alice Duhon; Blakely, Judith; Baptiste, H. Prentice (2023-03-08). English Language Learners: The Power of Culturally Relevant Pedagogies. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-1-4758-5616-3.
- ^ "(ed.), Catalog of Cenozoic radiolarians. Geodiversitas 43 (21) – Appendix 1: Family-group files: pdf files of genera belonging to a same family". doi.org. doi:10.5852/geodiversitas2021v43a21_appendix1. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Jesse Izaguirre, Freddy (January 26, 2020). "This Author Created a Hit Book. She's Also Living Under Constant Threat of Deportation". Medium. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
- ^ "Dear Abuelo". Grecia Huesca Dominguez. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ LaRosa, Emily (March 20, 2021). "@Macaulay Author Series with Grecia Huesca Dominguez '12". Macaulay Honors College. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ a b c Baghban, Marcia (2007-03-01). "Original Article Immigration in Childhood: Using Picture Books to Cope". The Social Studies. doi:10.3200/tsss.98.2.71-76. ISSN 0037-7996.
- ^ a b c d Alejandra, Sonia (2020-07-26). "Review of Dear Abuelo by Grecia Huesca Dominguez, illus. by Teresa Martinez". Sonia Alejandra Rodríguez. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
- ^ Souto-Manning, Mariana (2011), Fennimore, Beatrice S.; Goodwin, A. Lin (eds.), "Challenging the Text and Context of (Re)Naming Immigrant Children: Children's Literature as Tools for Change", Promoting Social Justice for Young Children, Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands, pp. 111–124, doi:10.1007/978-94-007-0570-8_10, ISBN 978-94-007-0570-8, retrieved 2024-12-04