MY TOWN / MI PUEBLO

Two cousins live in a pair of towns divided by the U.S.–Mexico border in this bilingual ode to cross-border kinship.

A light-skinned, redheaded girl and a brown-skinned, black-haired boy start the day in their respective homes. “This is my house,” she says in a front yard full of green plants and trees and a white house with orange trim. “Esta es mi casa,” he says on a sidewalk in front of colorful houses. Both kids prepare for a trek across a bridge over a river into the other’s town. On each double-page spread, her adventures happen on the verso, while his unfold on the recto, cleverly echoing the same border that separates their towns. Similarly, the girl narrates her visit to her cousin’s Mexican hometown in English, and the boy shares his escapades with his prima on the U.S. side in Spanish. Solis’ amiable English and Spanish texts serve as one-to-one translations of each other (the sole difference being the use of the pronoun ella for the girl and he for the boy), featuring similar content in differing contexts. In both towns, each cousin shows the other a colorful market with “comida deliciosa” and people speaking “idiomas diferentes,” festive holiday celebrations, and family dinners where “food and stories and laughs” flow. Each hometown’s idiosyncrasies mainly arise through the vibrant, cozy artwork, where each pueblo features bustling, distinct neighborhoods. Heading back home at the end of the day, each cousin crosses back through the guarded border walls, wishing for simpler crossings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Sweet, good-natured musings on border life.