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Carmona, Hannah

Anita and the Dragons

32 pp. | Lantana | April, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-911373-63-6 $17.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-913747-60-2 $9.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Anna Cunha. Anita, a dark-skinned young girl living in the Dominican Republic, and her family are immigrating to an unnamed country where they will learn English and have easy access to conveniences like "hot water and a real dryer." Imagining she is a brave princess bound for a new palace in a distant land, Anita sadly bids goodbye to her "royal subjects"--her abuela and neighbors--and then it's time for one of the ferocious "dragons" (really airplanes) that soar above their seaside village to take her and her family to their new home across the ocean. Anita has never been afraid of the dragons, but each step away from her beloved island and toward the unknown requires more courage than she's ever had to muster. Ultimately, Anita channels her inner dragon to conquer the fears that inevitably arise so that she can embrace the new experiences awaiting her. The impressionistic illustrations, while beautifully textured, place the story sometime in the vague and distant past (i.e., some characters are barefoot and dressed in stereotypical peasant garb), in contrast with context clues in the text that indicate a relatively more modern mid-twentieth-century setting. Nevertheless, this is a creative addition to the canon of immigration narratives that could be well paired with Malaika's Winter Carnival by Nadia L. Hohn or Greetings, Leroy by Itah Sadu.
Reviewer: Summer Edward | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

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