Written by Meg Medina
Illustrated by Sonia Sanchez
Reviewed by Mary Bishop

In ‘Evelyn Del Rey is Moving Away’, author and illustrator, Meg Medina and Sonia Sánchez, demonstrate how to beautifully translate childhood’s significant moments into story form. Daniela is our narrator and she tells the story of her last day with her “mejor amiga, [her] numero uno best friend”, Evelyn.

Evelyn and Daniela can see each other through their brownstone windows. Evelyn, “just like she always does”, signals Daniela over to play. Daniela leaves her pink and patterned apartment, passing by a moving truck “with its mouth wide open…ready to gobble up Evelyn’s” possessions and take them away. Evelyn’s apartment building and kitchen are equally joyously colorful. We are shown the incredibly rendered wallpaper interiors and illustrated ironwork staircase before we enter an apartment that, as Daniela describes, is “almost twin” to hers, “just like us.” It’s a day filled with “just like we always do” activities. It’s not until the apartment is emptied that the illustrations look dreary. When everything in the apartment is gone, the girls’ lives match one more time when they place heart stickers on each other’s cheeks. The story ends with a window to the future when we see a grown up Daniela reflecting on her “first mejor amiga, [her] numero uno best friend”. 

The illustrations in this story are layered, vibrant, and full of patterns. Our narrator, Daniela, knows it’s her last day with her best friend but she’s not going to let that ruin her day. Her tone and astute observations match the gaily decorated apartments that lose their vibrancy as the day marches toward its sad ending.  As the furniture disappears, the girls save their grief until the end. This book uses multicultural characters in an everyday setting and the author’s use of Spanish is both subtle and fitting. It’s a realistic fiction picture book that deserves a space on every elementary school teacher’s shelf.