Written by Mitali Perkins Illustrated by Sara Palacios Reviewed by Miles Hartfelder (2021-2022)
“We haven’t seen my grandmother in five years. But today is La Posada Sin Fronteras, and we are taking a bus to the border to meet her.”
Between Us and Abuela is a realistic fiction picture book. It is the story of a family separated by the U.S.-Mexico border and how they overcome that separation to connect with each other. The story centers around a holiday called La Posadas, a nine-day festival celebrating the birth of Jesús and how his parents, María and José, searched for shelter on the night he was born. La Posada Sin Fronteras (“The Inn Without Borders”) is celebrated on one day during Las Posadas along the U.S.-Mexico border. Friends and families gather on either side of the border wall and sing traditional Posada carols and honor those who have died trying to cross the border. This site-specific holiday has been happening for almost thirty years.
In this story, María and her brother Juan join their mother on a trip to the border to celebrate La Posada Sin Fronteras with their grandmother (Abuela). Juan has painted a picture for Abuela but it won’t fit through the two giant fences. María inventively makes a kite out of the picture and flies it up and over the border wall. Despite the wall and border security, Juan’s picture makes it over to Abuela through María’s innovation.
This book highlights the experience of a family separated by the U.S.-Mexico border and the traditions that come with that relationship. It could absolutely be used in a K-5 context and would even be a great story for secondary grades despite it’s younger feeling. It represents identity and diversity while augmenting the standard “border story” narratives we see on the news. This story brings representation to a specific community and at the same time it brings a positive light to a tragic and problematic part of our modern world. Although Mitalia Perkins does not come from Mexico, she is a woman of color from India who writes about “strong characters crossing all kinds of borders, seeking community, and promoting justice.” The illustrator, Sara Palacios, is a native of Mexico and a champion of Mexican stories. This is a great book to read around the winter holidays because it’s a “Christmas” story that tells a different story than we’re used to hearing around the winter holidays. It’s a beautiful and sweet book and I highly recommend it for any classroom!
