Not Far from Here

We worked and worked
juntos
para realizar el sueño
Nuestra familia . . .
nos superamos
as individuals
and
together

Mamá tells her children a story that began when their papá was a niño, not far from here. Their abuelitas told stories of their antepasados, and their abuelo, a blacksmith, taught their papá how to make art from earth and fire. When abuelo died, papá took all those lessons to heart and crossed la frontera to el norte to follow his sueños. There, he worked and overcame barriers, known to many immigrants alike, to forge his own obra maestra: a familia and a future in which anything is possible. Debut author Nydia Armendia-Sánchez relays a story of immigration, creativity, and comunidad through a translanguage text that moves naturally from English to español and back in a manner that will be familiar to many second and third generations of Latine families--and evocative to immigrant families of any heritage. Brilliantly brought to life by Devon Holzwarth's rich, imaginative illustrations, this warm abrazo of a book features a glossary of Spanish words.