MANGO MOON

A realistic portrayal of a family
torn apart.

Ten-year-old Maricela’s mama picks
her up from school on the day everything changes. She tells Maricela and her
younger brother that their “papi won’t be coming home for a while.” Readers
learn through simple prose that Maricela’s undocumented father is being held in
a detention center while he awaits deportation to an unnamed but “dangerous”
country. Every aspect of Maricela’s young life is affected, from her now-coachless
soccer practice to her after-school routine. She narrates the story with a
sense of grief and honesty true to a child’s understanding of a complicated and
devastating situation. Cornelison’s soft, impressionistic illustrations depict
the all-Latinx family with light brown skin and straight, black hair and convey
the overwhelming loss and sadness felt by a child longing for an absent parent.
The unsmiling characters in the story feel authentic to the heaviness of this
experience. Despite their separation, Maricela focuses on ways she can stay
connected to her papi, through handwritten notes and especially looking up at
their same mango moon. Author de Anda honors the real challenge that many
children face when a parent is deported and reminds them that it’s “all right…to
cry.”

Available in both Spanish and
English, this story validates a heartbreaking experience. (Picture book. 7-10)