¡Ay, Mija! (A Graphic Novel): My Bilingual Summer in Mexico
- Downloads：6395
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-04-02 07:19:27
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Christine Suggs
- ISBN：0316591920
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
"An absolutely heartwarming and vibrant story of belonging， family， and the meaning of home。 This book is a treasure。" – Julie Murphy， New York Times bestselling author of Dumplin’
In this bilingual， inventive， and heartfelt debut， graphic novel talent Christine Suggs explores a trip they took to Mexico to visit family， embracing and rebelling against their heritage and finding a sense of belonging。
Sixteen-year-old Christine takes their first solo trip to Mexico to spend a few weeks with their grandparents and tía。 At first， Christine struggles to connect with family they don’t yet share a language with。 Seeing the places their mom grew up—the school she went to， the café where she had her first date with their father—Christine becomes more and more aware of the generational differences in their family。
Soon Christine settles into life in Mexico， eating pan dulce， drawing what they see， and growing more comfortable with Spanish。 But when Mom joins their trip， Christine’s two worlds collide。 They feel homesick for Texas， struggle against traditions， and miss being able to speak to their mom without translating。 Eventually， through exploring the impacts of colonialism in both Mexico and themselves， they find their place in their family and start to feel comfortable with their mixed identity。
In this bilingual， inventive， and heartfelt debut， graphic novel talent Christine Suggs explores a trip they took to Mexico to visit family， embracing and rebelling against their heritage and finding a sense of belonging。
Sixteen-year-old Christine takes their first solo trip to Mexico to spend a few weeks with their grandparents and tía。 At first， Christine struggles to connect with family they don’t yet share a language with。 Seeing the places their mom grew up—the school she went to， the café where she had her first date with their father—Christine becomes more and more aware of the generational differences in their family。
Soon Christine settles into life in Mexico， eating pan dulce， drawing what they see， and growing more comfortable with Spanish。 But when Mom joins their trip， Christine’s two worlds collide。 They feel homesick for Texas， struggle against traditions， and miss being able to speak to their mom without translating。 Eventually， through exploring the impacts of colonialism in both Mexico and themselves， they find their place in their family and start to feel comfortable with their mixed identity。
Reviews
Mehsi
，
I received this book from TBR and Beyond Tours + the publisher in exchange of an honest review~Review to come during my tour stop on the 3rd of April。
Margaret
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I really loved this YA graphic memoir about the author's teen experience visiting their mother's family in Mexico alone （at least initially）。 It's a really sweet and cozy read about family but Suggs also explores many identity themes of fatness， being biracial， being queer， and being bilingual。 I really loved this YA graphic memoir about the author's teen experience visiting their mother's family in Mexico alone （at least initially）。 It's a really sweet and cozy read about family but Suggs also explores many identity themes of fatness， being biracial， being queer， and being bilingual。 。。。more
Sarita Bartel
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Este libro la gané en el Giveaway。 Me encantó leer sobre la vida de Christine y poder sentirme identificada en maneras similares。 Es súper chévere como ella muestra su vida a través de cómics y no esconde quien es y cómo se siente en el momento。 Me pareció un libro chistoso， inspirador， y admirable。
Haley Kilgour
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A super fun graphic novel for all the teens （and adults） who don’t always feel like they fit in with their heritage and culture。So you definitely need a basic understanding of English at certain points to understand the text。 But there little clues in the text as well to help you out。 And the pictures also help fill in the gaps。I wish there was more resolution with Christine’s feeling of attraction to women。 But who am I to judge the author’s actual journey。I do think this can help kids who are A super fun graphic novel for all the teens （and adults） who don’t always feel like they fit in with their heritage and culture。So you definitely need a basic understanding of English at certain points to understand the text。 But there little clues in the text as well to help you out。 And the pictures also help fill in the gaps。I wish there was more resolution with Christine’s feeling of attraction to women。 But who am I to judge the author’s actual journey。I do think this can help kids who are from multi ethnic families that may feel they don’t fit in to either side of the family。The pictorials sometimes felt a little juvenile but I actually felt they worked well overall for the story。 。。。more
Nicole Miller
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Sixteen-year-old Christine is going by themselves to Mexico for the first time to visit their mother’s family。 Nervous about the fact they aren’t fluent in Spanish， can Christine navigate Mexico while finding herself as well？ I really enjoyed this graphic novel。 I loved that， other than a mini Christine on their shoulder， there are basically no translations for the Spanish so that non-Spanish readers will also feel their confusion and triumph when they start to become fluent。 I also loved that C Sixteen-year-old Christine is going by themselves to Mexico for the first time to visit their mother’s family。 Nervous about the fact they aren’t fluent in Spanish， can Christine navigate Mexico while finding herself as well？ I really enjoyed this graphic novel。 I loved that， other than a mini Christine on their shoulder， there are basically no translations for the Spanish so that non-Spanish readers will also feel their confusion and triumph when they start to become fluent。 I also loved that Christine explores the many sides of themselves and yet does not come up with all the answers， but is happy to continue to explore。 I felt like this was a really good example of embracing your family’s immigrant story and the different facets that make a person a person。 。。。more
Liz Yerby
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This book captures complex feelings about identity and being bilingual in a very accessible way。 Very enjoyable as an adult， and I suspect very useful for many young adults。
Par
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This book was amazing。 I loved learning about Mexico， and Christine was really relatable。
Maia
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Suggs' debut memoir is a complete delight。 The themes of language， translation， family， queerness， fatness， and being biracial are beautifully woven together into a rich and authentic whole。 Nothing is overstated， simply presented as it was lived， and illustrated in a lovely palette of warm browns， bright golds， and smoothing blues。 I loved the tiny avatar of the author's internal thoughts and how it interacted with the text and images on the page。 This book uses all of the visual tools of comic Suggs' debut memoir is a complete delight。 The themes of language， translation， family， queerness， fatness， and being biracial are beautifully woven together into a rich and authentic whole。 Nothing is overstated， simply presented as it was lived， and illustrated in a lovely palette of warm browns， bright golds， and smoothing blues。 I loved the tiny avatar of the author's internal thoughts and how it interacted with the text and images on the page。 This book uses all of the visual tools of comics to tell a wonderful coming of age story and the result is as sweet as pan dulce。 I had the chance to read this book ahead of it's review and I can't recommend it more！ Pre-order it now or look for it on shelves in April 2023。 。。。more
Veronica
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Relatable from the first pages， the illustrations and conversations feel like home。A beautify story of moving from "ni de aqui， ni de alla" to "de aqui Y de alla"。 Christine’s visit to their grandparent’s home in Mexico is full of delicious food and love and Spanish and learning that they belong。 My absolute favorite spread is when Mamá （their abuela） digs up a cactus while on a hike and takes it home for her garden。 My abuela would do the same thing everywhere we would go！！！！ ¡Ay， Mija！ Also to Relatable from the first pages， the illustrations and conversations feel like home。A beautify story of moving from "ni de aqui， ni de alla" to "de aqui Y de alla"。 Christine’s visit to their grandparent’s home in Mexico is full of delicious food and love and Spanish and learning that they belong。 My absolute favorite spread is when Mamá （their abuela） digs up a cactus while on a hike and takes it home for her garden。 My abuela would do the same thing everywhere we would go！！！！ ¡Ay， Mija！ Also touches on immigration and the conquest of Mexico by Spain。 Christine also struggles with their identity and body issues and how that might affect their life later on。 Great graphic novel everyone should read。 。。。more
tpg0
，
As an AI language model， I do not have personal opinions or preferences。 However， '¡Ay， Mija！ （A Graphic Novel）: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico' is a bilingual graphic novel that follows the story of a young girl's summer vacation in Mexico， as she navigates cultural differences， learns more about her family history and grows as a person。 The book has been praised for its engaging storytelling， colorful illustrations and effective use of both English and Spanish languages， making it a great choice for language learners or anyone interested in exploring different cultures。
tpg1
，
I'm sorry， as an AI language model， I'm not capable of having personal opinions or preferences。 However， "¡Ay， Mija！ （A Graphic Novel）: My Bilingual Summer in Mexico" is a memoir-style graphic novel written by Piddy Sanchez。 It is about her experience spending a summer in Mexico with her grandmother and her struggles with language， culture， and identity。 The book is suitable for children and young adults and can be a great way to introduce them to bilingualism and cultural diversity。
tpg2
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