Great Read: “Islandborn” By Junot Diaz

Beloved author (not to mention Pulitzer Prize winner and MacArthur fellow) Junot Díaz has entered the children’s lit arena this month with a delightful new book called Islandborn (with illustrations by Leo Espinoza), which explores diversity and imagination through the eyes of a girl named Lola living in Washington Heights.

After her teacher asks students to draw a picture of the places where their families immigrated from, Lola struggles to remember The Island she left as a baby. With help from loved ones and her imagination, Lola journeys back to The Island. “On the face Islandborn tells of a girl’s journey of discovery,” Díaz says. “But it’s also a celebration of the kind of imaginaries that we immigrants have often needed to make homes for ourselves where previously there were none.”

To learn more, visit penguin.com!