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YOUNGER FICTION
Guojing ,

The Flamingo

144 pp. | Random/Random House Studio | September, 2022 | Trade ISBN 978-0-593-12731-5 $17.99 | Library ISBN 978-0-593-12732-2 $20.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-0-593-12733-9 $10.99
(1) 1-3 In this moving, mostly wordless graphic novel, a young girl of Chinese descent visits her grandmother on her own; the bond between the two deepens through their shared joy in storytelling and in observing nature. Central to the story is a flamingo, a wild rescue bird that Lao Lao (the grandmother) had saved and raised years ago when she was little. Guojing's expressive digital, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations have a timeless, cinematic quality, switching back and forth between the grandmother's bright, tropical childhood awash in shades of yellow, pink, and blue and the gray-hued present. This contrast becomes even greater when the granddaughter flies home (via a flamingo-pink airplane) to her family's lonely apartment in an imposing skyscraper-filled metropolis. A fantastical appearance by the titular character toward the end brings this gentle tale of family love--spanning time, distance, and generations--to a satisfying, heartwarming close. With its unfussy art and few words, the story leaves room for viewers' interpretation; what's never in question is the love between Lao Lao and her granddaughter.
Reviewer: Michelle Lee | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2022

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