Isla to Island
by Alexis Castellanos
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2022. 192 pages.
Review written September 20, 2022, from a library book
Starred Review
Isla to Island is a historical graphic novel about a young Cuban girl named Marisol who gets sent to New York City as part of Operation Peter Pan in 1960, an operation to rescue children of Cubans who feared they would be imprisoned under Castro for their political beliefs, and their children with them.
The graphic novel story is mostly done with pictures, and it’s beautifully done. Scenes of Marisol in Cuba with her family are bright and colorful. The only text (and there’s not a lot) is in Spanish, including a rooster that crows, “Qui qui ri qui.” Already in Cuba, we see that Marisol loves flowers and books.
When she says a sad good-by to her parents, she lands in a New York City that is cold and gray and in the middle of winter. Her caretakers there are kind, but the colors are gone. At school, people laugh at her, and she doesn’t understand what the teacher is saying and gets failing grades.
But then she discovers the library. Books are the first things that are full of color, so much so that streams of color waft from them. And through the books she chooses, her caretakers discover her love of flowers and bring her to the greenhouse in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, where she sees familiar flowers from Cuba.
The graphic novel is great at visually representing Marisol’s dawning hope. An Author’s Note at the back explains about Operation Peter Pan and the author’s family connections to Marisol’s story.
This is a quick read with so much presented visually, so a short time spent gives you a lovely and uplifting story.
alexiscastellanos.com
simonandschuster.com/kids
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