For the first time since they moved to San Francisco, Alfredito and his parents are returning to El Salvador. Alfredito is nervous, but he knows that this time it will be different. We don't have to go with any Señor Coyote, or run through the mountains, or hide in the trunks of cars the way we did when we first came. After shopping for gifts, the family flies to El Salvador, where loving relatives greet them. After a joyful visit, Alfredito longs to stay, but on his return to California, he feels lucky to have two homes. Speaking in Alfredito's young voice, Argueta tells a warm, understated story about moving between cultures. Through the details of packing and preparations, Argueta skillfully reveals the family's complex feelings of separation and excitement, and Garay's acrylic paintings extend the story's action and emotion with realistic portraits of the families and homes. An important story about the immigrant experience to share with children of all backgrounds.

Gr 3-5 After four years living in San Francisco, Alfredito and his parents plan their return visit to El Salvador and have a happy homecoming. Leaving his relatives after the visit is hard on Alfredito, but upon his return to California, he feels "a bit happy" because he has two places to call home. Neither the text nor the illustrations offer insight into the boy's age. In some pictures, he appears to be a preteen; in most scenes he looks and behaves more like a boy of about eight. Full pages of several paragraphs of dry text alternate with formal, realistic acrylic paintings. Both convey the joy of Alfredito's family reunion and delight in his home country, but the text reads more like informative prose than pleasurable fiction. Still, it may resonate with readers who also live far from people they love. Julie R. Ranelli, Queen Anne's County Free Library, Stevensville, MD