Mexique: A Refugee Story from the Spanish Civil War (Stories from Latin America (SLA)) - Hardcover

Ferrada, María José

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0802855458 ISBN 13: 9780802855459

Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2020

Synopsis

***THREE STARRED REVIEWS***

A Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books of the Year selection
A USBBY Outstanding International Book

A moving, poetic story of the four hundred “children of Morelia” who escaped Spanish Civil War violence by fleeing to Mexico.

On May 27, 1937, over four hundred children sailed for Morelia, Mexico, fleeing the violence of the Spanish Civil War. Home was no longer safe, and Mexico was welcoming refugees by the thousands. So each child packed a suitcase and boarded the Mexique, expecting to return home in a few months.

This was just a short trip, an extra-long summer vacation, they thought. But the war did not end in a few months, and the children stayed in Mexico, waiting and wondering. When the war finally ended, a dictator―the Fascist Francisco Franco―ruled Spain, and home was even more dangerous than before. 

This affecting book invites readers onto the Mexique with the “children of Morelia,” many of whom never returned to Spain during Franco’s almost forty-year regime. Poetically told, Mexique opens important conversations about hope, resilience, and the lives of displaced people. Translated from Spanish by Lawrence Schimel.

Kirkus Reviews Best Picture Books of the Year
Malka Penn Award Honor Book
National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Notable Poetry List
United States Board of Books for Young People (USBBY) Outstanding International Books List

About this title

About the Author

María José Ferrada is a Chilean journalist and writer. She is a recipient of the Municipal Prize of Literature of Santiago, as well as the Academy Award from the Chilean Academy of Language. In 2018 she received the Hispanic-American Prize for poetry for children. She currently works as the children's editor of Chilean Memory, a digital resource center of the National Library of Chile.

Ana Penyas has a degree in fine arts from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In 2018, she was the first woman to win Spain's National Comic Award. She has also received the Josep Toutain Prize for Best New Talent at the International Comic Fair of Barcelona.

Raised in Valencia, she now lives in Madrid. Visit Ana's website at anapenyas.es or follow her on Instagram @ana_penyas.

Edition details

• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0802855458
• ISBN 13: 9780802855459
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Penyas Ana
• Number of pages: 40