Greenwillow Books | 978-0062970428
I have so much admiration for an author who can write an endearing character with a unique personality to match. Such is the case with Marisol, in MAYBE MAYBE MARISOL RAINEY by Newbury award-winning author Erin Estrada Kelly.
From the first pages of this chapter book, I was all in:
“There is a magnolia tree in Marisol Rainey’s back yard. The tree is named Peppina. It is perfect for climbing. The branches are practically made for human feet. It’s as if Peppina wanted to say: Step here, and here, and here.”
Marisol’s a fan of old-time silent movies, and she named the magnolia after a Mary Pickford movie.
It seems like everyone but Marisol thinks Peppina is the perfect tree. “Think of someone you’re never happy to see, like your dentist or the principal after you’re sent to the office.” That’s how Marisol feels about Peppina. Everyone loves Peppina’s thick, knobby branches, perfect for climbing up, up, up. But Marisol is afraid. Fortunately, her best friend, Jada, “never makes fun of her for being scared.”
Summer has begun, and as the two spend the afternoon in the backyard – Jada “lying on Peppina’s booster branch with one leg dangling down” and Marisol, “planted on the ground,” the girls imagine what it would be like to be somewhere else. Anywhere but Louisiana where it’s “approximately five bazillion degrees outside with 2,000 percent humidity.”
Ultimately, this is a story of a sweet and thoughtful girl who likes to name inanimate objects, who lives in a small town in Louisiana with the only mom born elsewhere (the Philippines) and a dad who lives on an oil rig most of the time. It’s a story of family and friendship, setbacks and bullies, facing fears and finding courage.
Thoroughly charming, MAYBE MAYBE MARISOL RAINEY will be a series. I, for one, can’t wait for Book 2.
- Check out the Educator’s Guide for Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey HERE.
- From the NYT: “Erin Entrada Kelly Draws (Literally) From Her Life in a New Illustrated Middle Grade Series, by Atinuke.
