Islandborn, Junot Diaz
Islandborn, Junot Diaz
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Islandborn

Author: Junot Díaz

Narrator: Junot Díaz

Unabridged: 19 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/13/2018


Synopsis

From New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Díaz comes a debut picture book about the magic of memory and the infinite power of the imagination.

A 2019 Pura Belpré Honor Book for Illustration
 
Every kid in Lola's school was from somewhere else.
Hers was a school of faraway places.
 
So when Lola's teacher asks the students to draw a picture of where their families immigrated from, all the kids are excited. Except Lola. She can't remember The Island—she left when she was just a baby. But with the help of her family and friends, and their memories—joyous, fantastical, heartbreaking, and frightening—Lola's imagination takes her on an extraordinary journey back to The Island.  As she draws closer to the heart of her family's story, Lola comes to understand the truth of her abuela's words: “Just because you don't remember a place doesn't mean it's not in you.”
 
Gloriously illustrated and lyrically written, Islandborn is a celebration of creativity, diversity, and our imagination's boundless ability to connect us—to our families, to our past and to ourselves.

About The Author

Junot Díaz was born in the Dominican Republic and raised in New Jersey. He is author of the critically acclaimed Drown; The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and This is How You Lose Her, a New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist. He is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, PEN/Malamud Award, Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Guggenheim Fellowship, and PEN/O. Henry Award. A graduate of Rutgers College, Diaz is currently the fiction editor at Boston Review, and the Rudge and Nancy Allen Professor of Writing at MIT.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Dave on November 20, 2018

“Just because you can’t remember a place doesn’t mean it isn’t in you.” Each year my family reads all the Goodreads-award-nominated picture books. This is book #18 (of 20) of 2018, and this is one of our clear favorites of the year, maybe the collective favorite. Lola was born on an island (which we......more

Goodreads review by destiny ♡ on October 25, 2019

So, here's a children's librarian secret: sometimes, when we're supposed to be shelf-reading during our down time, we see a book on the shelf and go, "Oh, this looked so cute when I ordered it, but I forgot to actually read it!" and since picture books are so tiny, we just go ahead and read it right......more

Goodreads review by Lisa on April 17, 2018

This is a lovely book. It’s poetic, it has a lot of humor, and a more than a bit of sweetness/pathos. I particularly liked the humor throughout, in both the words and the pictures. I loved the many Spanish words, most with English translations. The art is spectacular, full of color and vibrancy. Gor......more

Goodreads review by Calista on November 03, 2019

Lola has a school project due - to draw a picture of the land they were from as children before they came to the states. Lola was a baby when she left and didn’t have any memories of the place so she went and asked all of her community about the Island. Through all the different people she got a pre......more


Quotes

★ "With his tenacious, curious heroine and a voice that’s chatty, passionate, wise, and loving, Díaz entices readers to think about a fundamental human question: what does it mean to belong?"–Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ “A sensitive and beautiful story of culture, identity, and belonging—a superb picture book outing for Díaz and one to be shared broadly in a variety of settings.” –School Library Journal, starred review


★ “This important title will be enjoyed by young children and may spark many significant discussions.” –Booklist, starred review