Two cousins live in two towns, separated by a river. But there is also a bigger divide--the US-Mexico border--which means they live in different countries. On the girl's side, English is the main language, and on the boy's it's Spanish. The cousins love their towns, and they love visiting each other's, where they notice some things are the same and some are wonderfully different, adding up to a vibrant world full of even more possibilities.
Author Nicholas Solis shows how border towns are special places, beautiful and dynamic, because two cultures can be better than one--and both cultures should be equally treasured and respected.
Luisa Uribe (luisauribe.com) is the illustrator of many award-winning books, including Your Name Is a Song (by Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow) and Areli Is a Dreamer (by Areli Morales). She has an MA in art and design from the University of Loughborough and lives in Bogotá, Colombia.
"This enjoyable bilingual picture book highlights cousins on each side of the U.S./Mexico border. English text narrates the U.S. (female) cousin's point of view, and Spanish text narrates the Mexican (male) cousin's. Rather than being a direct translation, the words are unique to each character; although the cousins are relating the same basic information, their stories are refreshingly authentic-sounding on their own. The text is simple enough for young bilingual readers or for anyone learning either Spanish or English, making this a great family, classroom, or library read-aloud. Uribe's illustrations provide a depth of interest and busyness that allow viewers to fall into the pictures, looking for differences and similarities between the Mexican and U.S. towns and families shown. Uribe provides a representative balance of all colors of people on both sides of the border and within each family. . . . The book does address border crossings, mentioning long lines and showing security officers and barbed wire, which comes off as realistic without being heavy-handed." --Horn Book