With delicacy and grace, Salvadoran cartoonist Saade crafts a resonant and distinctive graphic novel debut that chronicles “just another story” of contemporary migration that centers his cousin, Carlos. Disembarking from his plane from El Salvador to Los Angeles, Saade meets Carlos at the arrivals gate. After commenting on how “comfortable” it was for him to travel via plane, he expresses regret over Carlos’s treacherous journey from El Salvador to the U.S. 10 years prior. Sepia-toned panels render the cousins’ 2017 conversation while brightly hued sequences depict a headstrong Carlos in 2006, who contends with fear and the constant dread of being discovered along his trek to the U.S. border. Saade, who translates Carlos’s travails into a sprawling narrative, uses deft cartooning to craft an empathetic look at the struggles faced by migrants from Central America in seeking prosperity amid situations rife with inequity. Each panel is a testament to individual resilience, culminating in an expansive story of human beings triumphing against unspeakable odds. A Spanish-language edition will publish simultaneously. Ages 14–up. (Apr.)

SAADE, Ernesto . Una historia m&5;s: Un relato gr&5;fico de migraci&3;n . ISBN 9798765623343 . ea vol: illus. by Ernesto Saade. 216p. Graphic Universe . Apr. 2024. pap. $17.99. Gr 7 Up —Saade poignantly presents a graphic memoir about his cousin's tumultuous journey to the United States from El Salvador. Framed by a conversation that the adult cousins have while taking a long drive, Carlos's migrant account is narrated to his graphic novelist cousin for the first time. The flashback chapters are done in bright colors, and the present-day chapters are depicted with a more muted palette of sepia and grays. The subject was 18 years old when he and his mother left El Salvaldor because of financial troubles. The teen didn't want his mother to travel alone across several borders, at the mercy of coyotes and the harrowing terrains. Along the way, they meet other migrants, risk their lives constantly, get swindled, and undergo several threats, such as drowning and kidnapping. Still, they bond with fellow travel companions. The love between mother and son is the key to their survival. The nostalgia-filled volume captures the life-or-death experience that Carlos and his mother lived through and their longing to return home, even though they can't. While it's a personal narrative, it speaks to the many stories of migrants everywhere. VERDICT This stirring work gives a face to the very real experiences of thousands who must make the same treacherous journey. Purchase both editions for graphic novel and memoir collections.—Shelley M. Diaz