ANGÉLICA AND LA GÜIRA

A young girl harnesses the power of music to bridge the distance between her two homes in this jubilant picture book debut by the bestselling and award-winning author of Dominicana.

All summer, Angélica has woken up to the sound of the parrot next door and rain hitting the tin roof of her family's coop. Soon, she'll have to say goodbye to the parrot, the roosters, her tías and primas, her grandparents, and the Dominican Republic. The end of summer means returning home to start school on another shore. Before she leaves, her grandfather gives her the perfect gift, something with the power to draw crowds and move people as fast as the wings of a hummingbird: a güira. Angélica falls in love with this musical instrument, a steel can and metal comb that keeps a beat. Nobody seems to share her enthusiasm at first. "What is that sound?" they say. "Pennies inside a tin cup?" But on a hot, sunny day, in the land of Washington Heights, where the frío frío woman scrapes ice for a long line of customers and the men on the corner plunk dominoes on a makeshift carboard table, Angélica shows her neighbors the power of la güira. Bestselling and award-winning author Angie Cruz makes her picture book debut alongside Luz Batista, lovingly exploring music and community, the wisdom and guidance of our elders, and the joy and freedom of dancing in the street! Angie Cruz is a novelist and editor. She is the author of How Not To Drown in A Glass of Water and Dominicana, which was the inaugural GMA Book Club Pick and the 2019-20 Wordup Uptown Reads selection. It was shortlisted for The Women's Prize, longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction and the Aspen Words Literary Prize, it was a RUSA Notable Book, and winner of the ALA/YALSA Alex Award. Cruz divides her time between Pittsburgh, New York, and Turin. Luz Batista is a story artist and illustrator who grew up in New York City, New Jersey, and Atlanta and spent many summers longing for a visit to the Dominican Republic. Luz graduated from the School of Visual Arts with a BFA in animation, and she's currently a story artist and creative consultant at Disney TVA. Angélica and la Güira is her first picture book. Learn more about Luz at luzbatista.com and follow her @johnnyoctopus on Instagram.