I’m starting grad school this summer and the program I am attending uses this book as their pedagogical foundation. Boy, am I excited to start this Petrograd but cause this book was gold. I had the most wonderful pleasure of witnessing Mrs. Love speak at a conference this past winter and I was absolute stricken. The things she says in this book either validated my experiences, highlighted things that I need to know, or introduced me to thing that I know are going to make me a better educator. Gosh, what a gift this book is! I cannot wait to start my program :)

Fantasy, once again. Not my thing, but there will be kids in my classroom who love this!

This one will definitely become a classroom read-aloud for me. It deals with some super important themes that I know my 5th graders are going to be interacting with or experiencing themselves. This is the first book that I've read that is geared towards kids that tackles the issue of immigration and deportation. I'm super grateful to have this book in my classroom library!

Okayyyyyy so this book looks like it’s going to be super cutesy and adorable, and it is that but it is SO MUCH MORE! Talk about dynamic. Not only does this book do a wonderful job of showing the perspective of a mixed Black girl and her life moving between her white mom and Black dad. But, it also deals with some really important social issues as well. Super excited to have this hook in my classroom! A possibly read aloud for sure :)

2.5/5 stars.
In comparison to The One and Only Ivan there is no competition at all. I thought that maybe this would be one that I would read right after The One and Only Ivan with kids if they loved it, but this is definitely one I would have the kids read on their own.

What an absolutely lovely book! I LOVED following Ana Maria’s family’s journey. We really get to see them come together and grow together. What a lovely book that I am so excited to have in my classroom ❤️

I HIGHLY recommend listening to the audiobook of this one. It was like a 9-hour podcast. As an educator, I think it is so important to think about the places that my students are coming to me from. However, it is important to think about things in the terms of "What happened to them?" and not "What's wrong with them?" This book was really helpful in helping me gain some understanding around that. I'm very grateful.

I enjoyed this one! It did a really wonderful job of mixing a history that I myself wasn’t very familiar with and the present day. I definitely think this book would be better for a middle school or upper elementary classroom, but it was super great!

This one really hit home on certain topics. The struggle of being a dark-skinned Black girl in a world that doesn’t value us is real. I feel like this book did a very good job of illustrating this topic with a younger girl. I’m not quite sure if this one would be a read aloud book, but it will definitely be one that I recommend to students.

3.5/5 stars.

A really great book to talk with kids about gentrification and how it can affect people differently.