HOME FOR GRACE

Gentle, inviting pictures evoke empathy as they tell a story both happy and sad.

Jess, a brown-skinned kid, encounters an unhoused refugee outside a storefront. Though Jess’s light-skinned mother is comfortable first acknowledging, then talking with brown-skinned Grace, who wears a headscarf, Jess feels uneasy, thinking her “strange.” But Grace’s cat, Luna, helps spark a friendship. Jess and her mother prepare care packages for Grace and Luna, and, in turn, Grace shares her story: a journey through tyranny, hardship, and devastating loss, portrayed via evocative illustrations juxtaposed with joyful, loving memories. While Grace’s words, perhaps as understood by Jess, are light on details, illustrations tell a much deeper story of what Grace has experienced. Jess and her mother continue to visit, but when winter comes, Grace and Luna are no longer camped outside the storefront. Jess is concerned until a box of gifts appears, letting Jess and Mom know that Grace is safe. Grace’s story is nuanced, and readers will appreciate the depth of emotion conveyed by the illustrations. These provide an entry for conversation about the complexities of poverty, trauma, emigration, and inadequate support for unhoused people. The comforting ending, however, feels overly simplistic and misses an opportunity to further the conversation with more context about forced migration and support. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Heavy on emotion but light on information.