Book Description
for Home at Last by Susan Middleton Elya and Felipe Dávalos
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Ana’s mother is having a hard time adapting after the family moves from Mexico to the United States. At school, Ana is learning English. She and Papá practice each night at home. But her mother is home alone all day with Ana’s twin baby brothers. She misses her friends and relatives. And she dreads going to the market, where the impatient store clerk snaps at her for not knowing English. Susan Middleton Elya realistically portrays some of the difficulties faced by immigrants to this country who don’t speak English in a sensitive and engaging story that is told in third-person but maintains a child’s perspective on events. Felipe Davalos fine illustrations reflect all the warmth in Ana’s family, as well as the weariness, uncertainly, and, finally, pride that Ana’s mother feels as she begins to tackle the challenges she faces head on. (Ages 5-8)
CCBC Choices 2003 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2003. Used with permission.