Miss Quinces

Miss Quinces

Kat Fajardo

Graphix/Scholastic, 2022

256 pages

Grades 4-Up

Graphic Memoir

Suyapa wants nothing more than spending her summer with her nerd-pals, discussing and creating graphic novels. They all have plans to go to the same summer camp and Sue longs to go, only her very strict and old-fashioned mother won't allow it. To make matters worse, Mami insists on the whole family traveling to Honduras to visit relatives. Once there it's even worse than Sue remembers. The family is loud and embarrassing, her little cousins are annoying, and the countryside is boring. The one bright spot is Abuela, an artist that Sue considers a soul-sister and adores. When Abuela lets it slip that the family is planning a quinceaneras for Sue, she is livid. Fancy parties and poofy dresses are just not her "thing". Smart Abuela suggests a compromise:  Sue goes through with the quinceaneras and Mami allows her to go to sleepaway camp. The party is on and the family is in a flurry of preparations. An unexpected tragedy sets back the plan, but finally all gets pulled together--in satisfyingly surprising ways. Sue learns to appreciate her heritage, all while forging new relationships with her loved ones and learning what is really important in this life.

Debut middle grade graphic novelist, Fajardo offers a semi-autobiographical account of her own bicultural youth. This book has received excellent reviews and for good reason. The main character is one that many graphic novel fans will relate to. Embarrassing families and parents forcing us to do things we don't agree with are universal feelings. As Sue learns to appreciate her culture, her family learns to appreciate what makes her special. Fajardo's full-color illustrations are capable and clear with easily scannable panels. At the end we see Sue's illustrated travelogue of her journey, both physically and emotionally. More backmatter offers a note from the creator about her own experience and information about quinceaneras for the reader to learn more. What I really liked was how the book was designed to indicate which language was being spoken. English is in black type, while Spanish is printed in blue. Though it took me a minute to figure it out, once I did I was able to fully appreciate the code-switching involved for kids of two cultures. A well presented package that readers will enjoy as they learn a bit about the world beyond.