Eight-year-old Soledad dreads coming home to her lonely house every day after school. She invents an imaginary sister to keep her company at first, but a much better solution emerges from the imagination and curiosity of two good friends from the neighborhood.
Prize-winning poet and writer Rigoberto González has crafted a delicate and touching tale about a latchkey child's loneliness and her friends' lively ingenuity in dealing with this all too common concern. Artist Rosa Ibarra's lovely, thoughtful illustrations bring a New York neighborhood to life in warm pastel tones.
Rigoberto González was born in Bakersfield, California, and raised in Michoacan, Mexico. The son and grandson of migrant farmworkers, he is an award-winning writer of poetry and fiction. Since completing his third university degree, he has worked mostly in New York and primarily with children and young adults as a dance instructor, daycare provider, literacy specialist, and creative writing teacher.
Rosa Ibarra is a painter whose work is exhibited and collected internationally. Born and raised in Puerto Rico and schooled in Paris, she studied painting at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, where she graduated with Honors. She went on to apprentice in Paris with her father, the painter, Alfonso Arana. She has four children, Klara, Nina, Kristina and Gabriel, and lives in Northampton, Massachusetts.
"The rhythmic prose reads well in both English and Spanish, with the dreamy detached tone of the opening giving way to a brighter, more realistic voice as the child's life opens out. Ibarra's acrylic illustrations, painted in warm hues, are reminiscent in style of Paul Gaugin's very much what he might have painted had he washed up in the inner city rather than Tahiti. Round, solid forms and dramatic composition give the pictures life and verve. Books addressing the latchkey issue for the younger grades are rare. . . Soledad Sigh-Sighs, whether read in English, in Spanish, or both, fills a gap in bibliotherapeutic literature while providing a sound story of friendship." —School Library Journal
"González creates a comforting and familiar ambience even as he deals with an uncomfortable reality. . . Ibarra depicts Soledad's urban environment in warm earth tones and blues . . . and the round faces of Soledad and her friends and neighbors are stylized and child-like without being cartoonish. These strengths, combined with González's insights into the child's mind, create a visually inviting and emotionally encouraging experience." —Kirkus Reviews
