“Where’s the next book?”  That’s what my thirteen year old asked me after she finished Cry of the Sea by D. G. Driver (published by Fire and Ice).

I am thrilled to be reviewing this imaginative and intriguing novel as part of Multicultural Children’s Book Day (“MCBD”).  MCBD is in its fifth year and was founded by Valarie Budayr from Jump Into a Book and Mia Wenjen from Pragmatic Mom.  The mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in home and school bookshelves while also working diligently to get more of these types of books into the hands of young readers, parents, and educators.  Please see additional details about Multicultural Children's Book Day, and the wonderful sponsors, authors and co-hosts at the end of this post. There is also information about tonight's Twitter party and how to win book bundles.

Juniper Sawfeather (aka June) is a senior in high school.  She’s got plans.  She wants to go to college in San Diego and study marine biology.  Unfortunately, June hasn’t actually disclosed this to her environmental activist and lawyer parents.  They have plans for her education too and they don’t match with June’s.  So begins this age-old family conflict . . . but then the story goes in an entirely unexpected direction.

June and her dad are documenting an oil-spill caused by the shady, profit-driven Affron company.  While her dad is photographing the destruction, Juniper takes note of all the dead and dying creatures covered in oil that she observes on the beach -- a lot of dead fish, a couple of otters, a porpoise, and dozens of birds.

• “It never got better, seeing this kind of destruction.  I could now bear the sight of it without breaking into sobs like I used to when I was younger, but that didn’t mean I didn’t want to fall on the ground and wail. I felt my throat close up and my body tense in the way I’d trained it so that I could stay cool despite the emotion rushing through me.”

Distraught by her inability to help them, June nevertheless records her observations.  They are preparing to leave when June sees three figures thrashing on the beach.  They look human and June and her dad run over to help them, but when they reach the three figures, they find not humans, but mermaids!

Ms. Driver handles this introduction of fantasy so well that I was entirely able to continue the story without feeling skepticism.  She carefully details, the mermaids’ appearance and June’s incredulity.  As the story continued, I realized that the only time I felt like I had to suspend disbelief was when June seemed more preoccupied by the handsome intern from the Sea Mammal Rescue Center and her friend’s yearning for popularity than the wellbeing of the mermaids!

It’s been a while since I’ve been a teenager so I asked my thirteen year old daughter to also read the novel and hear what her thoughts were.  My daughter contemplates a future in animal conservation and has spent a lot of time reading nonfiction.  She’s been known to lose interest in a book if it contains factually incorrect information.  Like me, however, she was completely taken in by the mermaids.  Also like me, what she couldn’t understand was why June didn’t ditch school, her friend, and the cute boy in order to spend every moment helping the mermaids.  These confusing parts, however, fall into place and enhance the story.  But if you want to know more, you’re going to have to read the book!

I fully enjoyed the story and am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.  As you can read in the first sentence, so is my daughter!

I’d like to note that the fictional character Juniper Sawfeather is the child of a white mother and an American Indian father.  In this novel, June’s background is secondary and June is clearly more connected to her white ethnicity.  June describes her connection to her Native heritage as, “I felt as much part American Indian as I did part elephant.” D. G. Driver is not an Indigenous American, but after teaching her class about Native Americans and being especially interested in the tribes of the Northwest, she wanted her main character’s background to be at least partially American Indian.  I don’t have sufficient knowledge of Native American history or lore, but I felt that the author took the time to research and represent Juniper respectfully.  I greatly enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading the sequel.  I also hope to see more books for kids by Native American authors.


Current Sponsors:  MCBD 2018 is honored to have some amazing Sponsors on board.
2018 MCBD Medallion Sponsors
HONORARY: Children’s Book Council, Junior Library Guild
PLATINUM:Scholastic Book Clubs
GOLD:Audrey Press, Candlewick Press, Loving Lion Books, Second Story Press, Star Bright Books, Worldwide Buddies
SILVER:Capstone Publishing, Author Charlotte Riggle, Child’s Play USA, KidLit TV, Pack-n-Go Girls, Plum Street Press
BRONZE: Barefoot Books, Carole P. Roman, Charlesbridge Publishing, Dr. Crystal Bowe, Gokul! World, Green Kids Club, Gwen Jackson, Jacqueline Woodson, Juan J. Guerra, Language Lizard, Lee & Low Books, RhymeTime Storybooks, Sanya Whittaker Gragg, TimTimTom Books, WaterBrook & Multnomah, Wisdom Tales Press


2018 Author Sponsors
Honorary Author Sponsors: Author/Illustrator Aram Kim and Author/Illustrator Juana Medina
Author Janet Balletta, Author Susan Bernardo,  Author Carmen Bernier-Grand, Author Tasheba Berry-McLaren and Space2Launch, Bollywood Groove Books, Author Anne Broyles,  Author Kathleen Burkinshaw, Author Eugenia Chu, Author Lesa Cline-Ransome, Author Medeia Cohan and Shade 7 Publishing, Desi Babies, Author Dani Dixon and Tumble Creek Press, Author Judy Dodge Cummings, Author D.G. Driver, Author Nicole Fenner and Sister Girl Publishing, Debbi Michiko Florence, Author Josh Funk, Author Maria Gianferrari, Author Daphnie Glenn, Globe Smart Kids, Author Kimberly Gordon Biddle, Author Quentin Holmes, Author Esther Iverem, Jennifer Joseph: Alphabet Oddities, Author Kizzie Jones, Author Faith L Justice , Author P.J. LaRue and MysticPrincesses.com, Author Karen Leggett Abouraya, Author Sylvia Liu, Author Sherri Maret, Author Melissa Martin Ph.D., Author Lesli Mitchell, Pinky Mukhi and We Are One, Author Miranda Paul, Author Carlotta Penn, Real Dads Read, Greg Ransom, Author Sandra L. Richards, RealMVPKids Author Andrea Scott, Alva Sachs and Three Wishes Publishing, Shelly Bean the Sports Queen,  Author Sarah Stevenson, Author Gayle H. Swift Author Elsa Takaoka, Author Christine Taylor-Butler, Nicholette Thomas and  MFL Publishing  Author Andrea Y. Wang, Author Jane Whittingham  Author Natasha Yim
We’d like to also give a shout-out to MCBD’s impressive CoHost Team who not only hosts the book review link-up on celebration day, but who also works tirelessly to spread the word of this event. View our CoHosts HERE.
TWITTER PARTY Sponsored by Scholastic Book Clubs: MCBD’s super-popular (and crazy-fun) annual Twitter Party will be held 1/27/18 at 9:00pm.
Join the conversation and win one of 12-5 book bundles and one Grand Prize Book Bundle (12 books) that will be given away at the party! http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/twitter-party-great-conversations-fun-prizes-chance-readyourworld-1-27-18/
Free Multicultural Books for Teachers: http://bit.ly/1kGZrta
Free Empathy Classroom Kit for Homeschoolers, Organizations, Librarians and Educators: http://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/teacher-classroom-empathy-kit/
Hashtag: Don’t forget to connect with us on social media and be sure and look for/use our official hashtag #ReadYourWorld.

Every year, I choose a word to set the tone of my year.  Often, my word is in Spanish.  The first year, my word was “Supera”.  Supera means overcome.  I chose this word because I needed to overcome my fears and start acting in the best interests of my family.  This meant more communicating with everyone and standing up to my fierce mom.  Boricua moms are no joke.  I venture to say that Boricua moms from Vieques are even fiercer!  It wasn’t easy.  It took months.  I frequently revisited my word, “supera” to encourage myself.  Finally, she agreed to getting medical care.  Then I had to overcome my feelings following her diagnosis in order to get her the medical treatment she needed.  My mom is doing much better now.  You can often see her here, on my Instagram and on my ELKAmade Facebook page.

​Last year, I chose the word “Cumplir”.  Cumplir is defined as accomplish, carry out, comply with, attain or reach.  To me it meant to fulfill or carry out my obligations.  I had obligations to my family, especially my mom, and to myself.  I wanted to do right by all of us so when I felt discouraged or lazy, I’d reach to my word for a reminder.  I did okay by all of us.  And for myself, I’m especially proud that I finally got two of my patterns published -- Skew Too and the Vines and Leaves Cowl or Wrap.

This year, the word that came to me was “sigue.”  This means, keep going.  It can also mean follow.  I was cumpliendo with my family and I needed to continue or keep going.  When I think, “keep going” I think of Dory.  Yes, Dory the adorable, positive-thinking, short-term memory-impaired, Regal Blue Tang from Finding Nemo.  Dory always tells herself, “Just keep swimming.”

Dory also reminds me of my mom.  My mom has Alzheimer’s.  She’s in the early stage, but she has a significant short-term memory impairment.  Like Dory, my mom tends to forget things we’ve talked about and will ask again about 10 minutes later (except when she’s said no to something, she doesn’t seem to forget that 👀 ) Like Dory, my mom is also adorable, light-hearted, and happy.  Laughter is her favorite expression.  Kindness towards others is her way.  She always talks to people, smiles at babies, fusses over dogs, and marvels over birds and other wonders of the City.  Like Dory, my beloved Mai is so positive and forgetful, she can really make my life difficult.  She doesn’t fully understand the consequences of her actions or inactions.  She thinks everything is not a big deal.  In order to get to appointments, see relatives or fulfill other commitments, a lot of planning and mental gymnastics are required.  It can get complicated, but Mai’s well-being is a responsibility I want.  She’s always been an amazing mom.  I love her and I want to take care of her, but . . . as I’ve mentioned, caring for her is not without its challenges!

And the there’s my plans.  I have them, but when my personal life gets complicated, it’s hard to find the time and brain power to address them.  This year was especially busy with my mom’s appointments and researching high schools for my kid.  It seemed that every day there was something to research and review or somewhere to be and very little time to devote myself to my designs.  I have at least 10 more original designs swimming around partially completed that I need to translate into patterns.  I'd really like to complete at least one every month.  

Necesito seguir cumpliendo.  I need to keep fulfilling my obligations to my family and myself, step by step, little by little, at my own pace.  So, my word for 2018 is Sigue, but instead of a word, I'll keep the image of Dory.  "When life gets you down, you know what you've got to do?  Just keep swimming."  Dory’s optimism is a bit annoying, but she’s also right.  I’ll keep making plans for my family and myself and hoping they work out, but since the best-laid plans do not always work out, I’ll just keep swimming. ​