My two border towns

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My two border towns

Title:

My two border towns

Author:

Bowles, David (David O.), author.

Meza, Erika, illustrator.

Summary:

"A boy and his father cross the United States-Mexico border every other Saturday, visiting their favorite places, spending time with family and friends, and sharing in the responsibility of community care." -- Provided by publisher.

Audience:

Ages 2-8. Kokila.

Grades 2-3. Kokila.

Physical Description:

1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 24 x 29 cm

Genre:

Picture books.

Subject Term:

Fathers and sons -- Juvenile fiction.

City and town life -- Juvenile fiction.

Mexican Americans -- Juvenile fiction.

Emigration and immigration -- Juvenile fiction.

Author(s):

Meza, Erika,

Publisher:

Kokila,

Publication Date:

2021

ISBN:

9780593111048

Publication Information:

New York : Kokila, 2021.

Call Number:

P BOWLES

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003544551	Picture Books	BOWLES	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

A picture book debut by an award-winning author about a boy's life on the U.S.-Mexico border, visiting his favorite places on The Other Side with his father, spending time with family and friends, and sharing in the responsibility of community care.

Early one Saturday morning, a boy prepares for a trip to The Other Side/El Otro Lado. It's close--just down the street from his school--and it's a twin of where he lives. To get there, his father drives their truck along the Rio Grande and over a bridge, where they're greeted by a giant statue of an eagle. Their outings always include a meal at their favorite restaurant, a visit with Tio Mateo at his jewelry store, a cold treat from the paletero, and a pharmacy pickup. On their final and most important stop, they check in with friends seeking asylum and drop off much-needed supplies.

My Two Border Towns by David Bowles, with stunning watercolor illustrations by Erika Meza, is the loving story of a father and son's weekend ritual, a demonstration of community care, and a tribute to the fluidity, complexity, and vibrancy of life on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Available in English and Spanish.

Author Notes

David Bowles grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. As a kid, he would regularly cross the border with his father to visit family, buy historietas, and watch movies. It's a tradition he continued with his own children, making sure they became part of the transnational community he loves so much. David has written many books that center Mexican Americans in the borderlands, including the award-winning They Call Me G ero and the 13th Street series. My Two Border Towns , available in English and Spanish, is his debut picture book.

Erika Meza was born in Mexico, fell in love with animation on the border with California, and developed a taste for eclairs in Paris before moving to the U.K. An adoptive Tijuanense, she took her first steps to find her visual voice at the border--forever fueled by tacos de birria. When Erika isn't drawing, you'll find her drinking coffee, tweeting, or plotting ways to bring her cat traveling with her.

Reviews (1)

Publisher's Weekly Review

"Every other Saturday," this story's child narrator and his father, who reside in the U.S., set out for the Mexican side of the border near where they live. Meza (Balloons for Papa) pours artistry into mixed-media images of the towns, which mirror each other across the river--"a watery serpent that glints with the dawn," writes Bowles (Rise of the Halfling King), making his picture book debut. The two show their documents and cross the boundary into the town, brought to life visually with sunny shades of yellow, brick red, and magenta. They make stops at the boy's aunt and uncle's jewelry shop, at a grocery for snacks, a doctor's office for medication, then take much of what they've gathered to a family who is camping along the border bridge: "Refugees... Stuck between countries. The U.S. says there's no room, and Mexico says it can hardly look after its own gente." Acknowledging their own "duty to care for our gente," and the "cards that give us the freedom/ to travel back and forth," the father and son look forward--with warmth and care--to a "wonderful day," when passage between the border towns isn't limited. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Taylor Martindale Kean, Full Circle Literary. Illustrator's agent: Claire Cartey, Holroyde Cartey. (Aug.)