Lola

February 1, 2018

K-Gr 3-When Ms. Obi asks her students to draw a picture of the country they are originally from, the children are excited. All except for Lola, "What if you left before you could start remembering?" As Lola talks to some of her neighbors from the Island to draw from their memories, she learns of bats as big as blankets; a love of music and dancing; coconut water and sweet mangoes. And an island where "Even the people are like a rainbow-every shade ever made." With a place so beautiful, Lola wonders, why did people leave? Reluctantly, Mr. Mir, the building superintendent, tells her of a Monster that fell upon their Island and did as he pleased for 30 years. Though never mentioned by name, the country in question is the Dominican Republic. The Monster refers to the dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Lola learns from her assignment that "Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you." Espinosa's gloriously vibrant mixed-media illustrations portray a thriving community living under the shadow of the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan. As Lola learns more about her Island, the illustrations cleverly incorporate a plethora of tropical plants and color, bringing to life both Lola's neighborhood and La Isla. Lola, a Spanish language edition, is ably translated by Mlawer and publishes simultaneously. VERDICT A sensitive and beautiful story of culture, identity, and belonging-a superb picture book outing for Diaz and one to be shared broadly in a variety of settings.-Lucia Acosta, Children's Literature Specialist, Princeton, NJ

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2018
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* Lola doesn't know much about where she's from. When senorita Obi asks the class to draw a picture of their home country, Lola must ask the people in her neighborhood what they remember about the island. This first illustrated children's book written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Diaz is an extraordinary tale of the power of collective storytelling. At the beginning, Lola feels down because she doesn't remember the island as well as her friends remember their homelands. But that soon changes as she hears from her neighbors about the bats the size of blankets, the rainbow people, and even the monster that once terrorized the island. With this last bit of information, Diaz introduces the concept of dictatorship in an accessible manner, opening the door to conversation between children and adults. The Spanish in this edition of Islandborn feels familiar and representative of the community of which Diaz writes. Espinosa's illustrations beautifully center Afro-Latinidad, which is something that is lacking in other children's books about Latinx people. Such representation is seen in the skin color of Lola and her neighbors and Espinosa's technique that gives hair visible texture. This rich celebration of heritage and diversity will spark curiosity in young readers to learn their own family histories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2018
Lola's school, in an unnamed U.S. city, is full of immigrants like her. For homework one day, Ms. Obi tasks her young students with drawing a picture of the country you are originally from. Lola has a problem: because she left the Island when she was a baby, she doesn't remember it. Fortunately, she can tap the memories of her family members and neighbors, all eager to help?except for elderly building superintendent Mr. Mir ( Nobody cares about that old stuff?Just be glad that you live here ). When Mr. Mir finally agrees to speak with Lola, he relates something no one else has: that a monster fell upon our poor Island, terrorizing it for thirty years; the creature was defeated only when heroes rose up. That monster is the piece missing from Lola's until-now glossy portrait, and her drawing, which concludes the book, shows her homeland in its complexity: revelers, animals, and greenery share the two-page spread with activists smiting a fanged enemy. Although the island is likely a nod to the Dominican Republic, whence hails Pulitzer Prize-winner D�az (The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), the monster can stand in for any country's political destabilization. Islandborn (concurrently published in Spanish as Lola), whose pages hustle and bustle with Espinosa's vibrant illustrations of city and island life, is a welcome community and immigration story in which a young character's existential concerns stem not from being different but from losing what makes her so by diminished connection to the past. nell beram

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)