Kid Review – Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey

ABOUT THE BOOK – Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey

Written by Erin Entrada Kelly

Ages 7-12 | 160 Pages

Publisher: Greenwillow Books | ISBN-13: 978-0062970428

Publisher’s Synopsis: Introducing eight-year-old Marisol Rainey—an irresistible new character from Newbery Medalist and New York Times–bestselling Erin Entrada Kelly!

Marisol Rainey’s mother was born in the Philippines. Marisol’s father works and lives part-time on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. And Marisol, who has a big imagination and likes to name inanimate objects, has a tree in her backyard she calls Peppina . . . but she’s way too scared to climb it. This all makes Marisol the only girl in her small Louisiana town with a mother who was born elsewhere and a father who lives elsewhere (most of the time)—the only girl who’s fearful of adventure and fun.

Will Marisol be able to salvage her summer and have fun with Jada, her best friend? Maybe. Will Marisol figure out how to get annoying Evie Smythe to leave her alone? Maybe. Will Marisol ever get to spend enough real time with her father? Maybe. Will Marisol find the courage to climb Peppina? Maybe.  

Told in short chapters with illustrations by the author on nearly every page, Maybe, Maybe Marisol Rainey is a must-have for early elementary grade readers. Erin Entrada Kelly celebrates the small but mighty Marisol, the joys of friendship, and the triumph of overcoming your fears in this stunning new novel for readers of Kevin Henkes, Meg Medina, Andrew Clements, Sara Pennypacker,  and Kate DiCamillo.

MY REVIEW

I have not previously read any books by Erin Entrada Kelly so she is a new to me author. I am sure this will not be the last book of hers I read. Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey expertly captures the voice of a somewhat timid eight-year-old girl. The fears, the friendship, the sibling relationship, the parental relationships are all spot-on. Having worked in education for a long time, I can see many second graders I have known in the personality of Marisol Rainey.

Jada is the perfect best friend. She doesn’t condemn Marisol for her fears. She stands up for her when people say mean things. She supports her as she faces her fears. We all need a friend like Jada. 

I loved Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey and think it would be a great candidate for the Newbery Award. I look forward to reading future books about Marisol as Erin Entrada Kelly has promised there will be more. 

Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey would be an excellent addition to any K-12 school library or any lower elementary classroom or home library. It would be appropriate for the early elementary student who has a high reading level. The sketches in each chapter, done by Erin Entrada Kelly, help break up the storyline for young readers who don’t always have a long attention span even if they do have a higher reading ability.

This review was prepared in partnership with The Children’s Book Review and HarperCollins Publishers 

PURCHASE LINKS

https://amzn.to/2Pm1MiG

https://bookshop.org/a/2078/9780062970428

ABOUT ERIN ENTRADA KELLY

New York Times–bestselling author Erin Entrada Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space. She grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and now lives in Delaware. She is a professor of children’s literature in the graduate fiction and publishing programs at Rosemont College, where she earned her MFA, and is on the faculty at Hamline University. Her short fiction has been nominated for the Philippines Free Press Literary Award for Short Fiction and the Pushcart Prize. Erin Entrada Kelly’s debut novel, Blackbird Fly, was a Kirkus Best Book, a School Library Journal Best Book, an ALSC Notable Book, and an Asian/Pacific American Literature Honor Book. She is also the author of The Land of Forgotten Girls, winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature; You Go First, a Spring 2018 Indie Next Pick; Lalani of the Distant Sea, an Indie Next Pick; and Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey, which she also illustrated. The author’s mother was the first in her family to immigrate to the United States from the Philippines, and she now lives in Cebu.

GIVEAWAY

Enter for a chance to win a hardcover copy of Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey!

Ten (10) winners receive:

• A hardcover copy of Maybe Maybe Marisol Rainey

The giveaway begins April 26, 2021, at 12:01 A.M. MT and ends May 26, 2021, at 11:59 P.M. MT.

Enter Giveaway Here.