Isabel in Bloom
by Mae Respicio
Intermediate, Middle School    Lamb/Random    368 pp.
4/24    9780593302712    $17.99
Library ed.  9780593302729    $20.99
e-book ed.  9780593302736    $10.99

In this verse novel set in 1999, twelve-year-old Isabel Ligaya leaves her home in the Philippines to reunite with her mother in California. Mama immigrated to the U.S. five years ago to work as a nanny, and Isabel is eager to see her but nervous about leaving her grandparents, her friends, and her beloved sampaguita (jasmine) plant. Having grown up with grandparents who sell vegetables at the market, Isabel is familiar with tending a garden, but the transition to growing a life in the U.S. has challenges. She’s self-conscious about her accent, finds making new friends daunting, and is disappointed that Mama spends most of her time looking for a job. Over the course of a year, Isabel discovers what can grow when one nourishes a seed with tenacity, love, and friendship. Respicio conveys Isabel’s experience mostly through accessible free verse and narrative poetry, and includes acrostic, haiku, palindrome, tanaga (an indigenous form of Filipino poetry), and concrete poems. The novel brings light to unconventional family structures and hate crimes against Asian Americans elders. An author’s note discusses the poetic forms and imagery, as well as the experiences of Asian Americans today.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.