Angélica and la Güira

K-Gr 3–Angélica spends all summer with her family in the Dominican Republic, but when it’s time to start school, she needs to return home to Washington Heights in New York City. The day before leaving her beloved family’s home country, her abuelo gives her a güira and lets her know that the shiny, hollow instrument connects them to their people, their land, and themselves. Back home, Angélica plays la güira everywhere—in the kitchen, in her room, on the sidewalk; she even sleeps with it. But it seems that no one around her feels her excitement and admiration for la güira as a powerful and real instrument, deserving a role in musical spaces. It is Angélica’s determination and joyful presence that showcases the cultural, communal, and sonic power of one of the Dominican Republic’s cherished instruments. Cruz’s lyrical and heartfelt words and Batista’s warm and emotive illustrations truly encapsulate intergenerational and transnational connections between Dominicans—aquí y allá (here and there). The double spread format and vivid art style effectively capture the contrasting landscapes of the Dominican Republic and Washington Heights neighborhoods, as well as Angélica’s extended family and neighbors and their respective gradients of skin tones, body types, hair textures, and other physical traits. Cruz’s clever and consistent use of the onomatopoeic sounds of la güira and Batista’s depiction of Angélica’s hand movement across the book will have readers wanting to feel the power of la güira.