Book Description
for The Homesick Club by Libby Martinez and Rebecca Gibbon
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Mónica is from Bolivia. Her best friend, Hannah, is from Israel. Both miss things about their homelands. For Hannah it's the desert sun, the sound of the wind, and the little tortoise that lived near her home. Mónica misses the sound of the frogs, mango trees, and watching hummingbirds with her grandmother. In fact, she wishes she could bring a hummingbird for Show and Tell. Miss Shelby joins their class on Monday, after their regular teacher has a baby. Seeing Miss Shelby, who's from Texas, standing alone in the lunchroom reminds Mónica that being new is hard for everyone-even teachers and grownups. Inviting Miss Shelby to join the Homesick Club she and Hannah started at lunch, she learns Miss Shelby misses the stars in the open sky, peach trees, the raccoon at her kitchen window, and hummingbird cake. Hummingbird cake? Once Miss Shelby explains, Mónica knows exactly what to bring for Show and Tell. Engaging details in both the narrative and art propel a story in which Mónica, Hannah, and Miss Shelby are wistful but not melancholy about what they've left behind. (Ages 5-8)
CCBC Choices 2021. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2021. Used with permission.