Fourteen-year-old Almudena reconnects with her estranged Guatemalan father during a revelatory summer.When her white mom gets the opportunity to tour as the star of an international dance show, Almudena must spend the summer in the city with Xavier, the father she's never met. Further exacerbating her woes, Almudena doesn't speak Spanish, and Xavier speaks very little English. Xavier nonetheless expects her to help him renovate a dilapidated brownstone and turn it into housing for folks in the community who need an affordable rental. As father and daughter rehabilitate the house, floor by floor (cue Almudena: "Ugh. That all sounds like a metaphor, doesn't it?"), she learns more about her father, including his beliefs, challenges, and life. Navigating the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood as an outsider, Almudena meets Latine people who inadvertently or purposefully question her Latine status. Almudena slowly discovers how she fits into her new community and pieces together a makeshift familia that's imperfect but feels right. This coming-of-age tale chimes with discreet moments of humor and lots of heart, all centered around questions of heritage, identity, compassion, and acceptance and exemplified by the scrappy, vivid artwork, which wonderfully captures Almudena's inner turmoil. Almudena's blossoming relationship with her father ends on a cheerful note, and her moments of rapport with her summertime neighbors and their stories are frequent highlights that touch upon topics such as prejudice against brown folks and queerness in the Latine community.Beautifully profound. (Graphic fiction. 12-16)

Fourteen-year-old Almudena reconnects with her estranged Guatemalan father during a revelatory summer.When her white mom gets the opportunity to tour as the star of an international dance show, Almudena must spend the summer in the city with Xavier, the father she's never met. Further exacerbating her woes, Almudena doesn't speak Spanish, and Xavier speaks very little English. Xavier nonetheless expects her to help him renovate a dilapidated brownstone and turn it into housing for folks in the community who need an affordable rental. As father and daughter rehabilitate the house, floor by floor (cue Almudena: "Ugh. That all sounds like a metaphor, doesn't it?"), she learns more about her father, including his beliefs, challenges, and life. Navigating the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood as an outsider, Almudena meets Latine people who inadvertently or purposefully question her Latine status. Almudena slowly discovers how she fits into her new community and pieces together a makeshift familia that's imperfect but feels right. This coming-of-age tale chimes with discreet moments of humor and lots of heart, all centered around questions of heritage, identity, compassion, and acceptance and exemplified by the scrappy, vivid artwork, which wonderfully captures Almudena's inner turmoil. Almudena's blossoming relationship with her father ends on a cheerful note, and her moments of rapport with her summertime neighbors and their stories are frequent highlights that touch upon topics such as prejudice against brown folks and queerness in the Latine community.Beautifully profound. (Graphic fiction. 12-16)

Gr 9 Up— A superb coming-of-age graphic novel that delves deep into contemporary complex topics, such as family, friendship, race, ethnicity, identity, and more. With easy-to-follow dialogue and beautiful, captivating illustrations, Teer and Julia bring readers into Almudena's consciousness. Almudena, who is just about to turn 15, is spending the summer with her father while her mother is on a work trip. This may sound pretty run-of-the-mill, but Almudena has never met her father; they do not speak the same language; his family plans for the summer are to renovate the brownstone he inhabits. That starts off the summer on a sour note, but while they work on the renovations, Almudena starts to learn not only about her father, their heritage, and others living in the neighborhood, but she also gets to know more about her true self and where she fits in the world. Brownstone gives a sense of what family means and that it goes beyond just sharing the same blood. VERDICT A great YA graphic novel for teens who are trying to figure out who they are or anyone who has ever felt like they were on the outside. This would be a popular title for fans of Christine Suggs's &1; Ay , Mija !: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico , Deb JJ Lee's In Limbo , and Emily Bowen Cohen's Two Tribes .— Cat Miserendino