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Young Amada records her hopes, fears, and dreams in her diary during her family's journey from Mexico to California.
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One night, young Amada overhears her parents whisper of moving from
Mexico to the other side—to Los Angeles, where greater opportunity
awaits. As she and her family make their journey north, Amada records
her fears, hopes, and dreams for their lives in the United States in her
diary. How can she leave her best friend behind? What if she can't learn
English? What if her family never returns to Mexico? From Juárez to Mexicali
to Tijuana to Los Angeles, Amada learns that with her family's love and
her belief in herself, she can make any journey and weather any change—here,
there, anywhere.
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Pérez captures the essence
of the trauma of moving to a new place that is universal to all children,
but here it is expanded by the facts of her immigrant experience. Gonzalez,
. . . packs her lively pages with vibrant,
jewel-toned color and vivid images, illuminating the text and adding the
richness of the culture. A nice touch is the back of the book jacket, which
is a map of the area, showing the route from Amada's old home to the new
one. Pérez has plainly remembered her grandmother's advice: "Keep your language
and culture alive in your diary and in your heart." Very nicely done.
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review "Affecting . . . Breathtaking throughout are Gonzalez's illustrations, which blaze with color and capture both the hilariously mundane details of life, such as the antics of Amada's unruly brothers, and the imagination's terrain." —The Horn Book Magazine "This poignant, bilingual story of a young girl's journey to an unfamiliar
new home . . . is more than an immigrant's tale. It sympathetically
explores the fear many children have of the unknown and their sorrow
at leaving the familiar behind. . . it's comforting whether you're moving
to a new town or to a new country. . . Wonderfully illustrated by Maya
Christina Gonzales, in warm-hued paintings with a childlike sensibility.
The book's uplifting ending reassures children that they, too, can deal
with the new and unknown." "Grade: A" —Orange County Register
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My Diary From Here to There
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Full-color illustrations 
