September 2022 - Page 8 of 14

Mexique: A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War
by María José Ferrada (Author), Ana Penyas (Illustrator), and Elisa Amado (Translator)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: On May 27, 1937, over four hundred children sailed for Morelia, Mexico, fleeing the violence of the Spanish Civil War. Home was no longer safe, and Mexico was welcoming refugees by the thousands. Each child packed a suitcase and boarded the Mexique, expecting to return home in a few months. This was just a short trip, an extra-long summer vacation, they thought. But the war did not end in a few months, and the children stayed, waiting and wondering, in Mexico.

Snippet:
War is a very loud noise.
War is a huge hand that shakes you
and throws you on a ship.

The Other Side of the River
by Alda P. Dobbs (Author)
@ Amazon | Bookshop | IndieBound

Booktalk: Petra Luna is in America, having escaped the Mexican Revolution and the terror of the Federales. Now that they are safe, Petra and her family can begin again, in this country that promises so much. Still, twelve-year-old Petra knows that her abuelita, little sister, and baby brother depend on her to survive. She leads her family from a smallpox-stricken refugee camp on the Texas border to the buzzing city of San Antonio, where they work hard to build a new life. And for the first time ever, Petra has a chance to learn to read and write.

Yet Petra also sees in America attitudes she thought she’d left behind on the other side of the Río Grande–people who look down on her mestizo skin and bare feet, who think someone like her doesn’t deserve more from life. Petra wants more. Isn’t that what the revolution is about? Her strength and courage will be tested like never before as she fights for herself, her family, and her dreams.

Snippet: “I’m not afraid to work!” I blurted. I turned to Abuelita, who stared at the ground in silence. It burned me inside that she wouldn’t stand up for me and tell Doña Juanita all I’d done in our journey. I had to speak up for myself.