My Mother's Tongues

In a sparkling debut authored by a sixteen-year-old daughter of immigrants, this ode to the power of multilingualism gives voice to the lasting benefits of speaking with more than one tongue. Sumis mother can speak two languages, Malayalam and English. She can switch between them at the speed of sound: one language when talking to Sumis grandmother, another when she addresses the shopkeeper. Sometimes she speaks a combination of both. Could it be she possesses a superpower? With awe and curiosity, young Sumi recounts the story of her mothers migration from India and how she came to acquire two tongues, now woven together like fine cloth. Rahele Jomepour Bells inviting illustrations make playful use of visual metaphors, while Uma Menons lyrical text, told astutely from a childs perspective, touches lightly on such subjects as linguistic diversity and accent discrimination (no matter how they speak, every persons voice is unique and important). This welcome debut, penned when the author was still a teenager, is an unabashed celebration of the gift of multilingualism a gift that can transport people across borders and around the world.