WHAT IF A FISH

It is the summer before sixth grade, and Eddie Aguado’s life is taking several unexpected turns.

Eddie’s best friend has moved away; he’s looking forward to the arrival of his older half brother from Colombia; and he’s just partnered with a new girl in town to enter a fishing competition. Neither one of them can fish, but Eddie is hoping his brother, Big Eddie, will teach him. Eddie’s biracial. His Colombian father died when he was little and he hardly remembers him now, but he has his dad’s black hair and brown eyes (his mom is white), and his skin is “the color of coffee ice cream.” Because of his looks he’s asked where he’s from, when all he’s ever known is Minneapolis, and he wonders if he can be Colombian if he doesn’t speak Spanish. Summer suddenly changes when Big Eddie announces he’s not coming because his abuela is very sick and asks if Little Eddie can come to Cartagena instead. Though she’s not his abuela, she would like to meet him. It is this monthlong stay in a new environment, culture, and language followed by his subsequent return to Minnesota that helps Eddie come to an understanding of family, friendship, and identity. It all unspools in Eddie’s perceptive present-tense narration, which is both poetic and believable.

Multilayered and convincing, the book will have readers rooting for its sweet and smart protagonist.