Marisol McDonald has flaming red hair and nut-brown skin. Polka dots and stripes are her favorite combination. She prefers peanut butter and jelly burritos in her lunch box. To Marisol, these seemingly mismatched things make perfect sense together. Other people wrinkle their nose in confusion at Marisol—can't she just choose one or the other? Try as she might, in a world where everyone tries to put this biracial, Peruvian-Scottish-American girl into a box, Marisol McDonald doesn't match. And that's just fine with her.
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Baker & Taylor)
Marisol McDonald, a biracial, nonconformist, soccer-playing pirate-princess with brown skin and red hair, celebrates her uniqueness. - (Baker & Taylor)
A creative, unique, bilingual Peruvian Scottish-American-soccer-playing artist celebrates her uniqueness. - (Baker & Taylor)
Bilingual English/Spanish. Mismatched and fabulous Marisol McDonald celebrates her Peruvian and Scottish heritage. - (Perseus Publishing)
Monica Brown, Ph.D., is the author of award-winning bilingual books for children, including My Name Is Celia: The Life of Celia Cruz/Me llamo Celia: La vida de Celia Cruz (Luna Rising), a recipient of the Américas Award for Children's Literature and a Pura Belpré Honor. Her latest book, Side by Side/Lado a Lado (HarperCollins) was nominated as an Outstanding Literary Work for Children in the NAACP Image Awards. She is a Professor of English at Northern Arizona University, specializing in U.S. Latino Literature and Multicultural Literature. She also writes and publishes scholarly work with a Latino/a focus and numerous scholarly articles and chapters on Latino/a literature and cultural studies. She lives with her husband and two daughters in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Sara Palacios was born and raised in Mexico City. She holds degrees in Graphic Design, Illustration, and Digital Graphic Techniques from universities in Mexico, and is currently pursuing her MFA in Illustration at the Academy of Art in San Francisco. She has worked as a freelance illustrator for Santillana, McGraw-Hill, SM, and others. Sara divides her time between San Francisco, California, and Mexico City, Mexico.
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Perseus Publishing)
Horn Book Guide Reviews
Spirited text in English and Spanish describes the ways the mixed-race narrator "doesn't match," from clothing choice to physical appearance ("My cousin Tato...says, 'Marisol, your skin is brown like mine, but your hair is the color of carrots. You don't match!'"). Palacios's illustrations capture Marisol's exuberant style and wacky fashion sense, as does Dommnguez's thoughtful Spanish translation of Brown's text.
Kirkus Reviews
A little girl celebrates her multiracial background and pride in her individuality through a creative and non-conformist attitude.
Marisol McDonald loves her fire-red hair and her brown, freckled skin, feels artistic pleasure in pairing polka-dotted shirts with striped pants and enjoys eating PB&J burritos. Misunderstood by her peers, she is continually teased for not ever matching until one day, confidence diminished, Marisol decides to conform and arrives at school in the same-colored clothes, chooses pirates over soccer rather than playing both simultaneously and eats a peanut butter/jelly sandwich on mushy bread. Bored and unhappy, Marisol is delighted when her teacher gives her a note that boosts her self-esteem with this very positive message: "the Marisol McDonald that I know is a creative, unique, bilingual, Peruvian-Scottish-American, soccer-playing artist and simply marvelous!" Double-page illustrations in assorted media match Marisol's eclectic style and include everything from childlike crayon-and-pencil drawings to more sophisticated cartoon art that combines paint and newsprint collage. The bilingual, first-person story works well in both English and Spanish despite, as explained in an editor's note, the difficulty of finding the most appropriate Spanish term for the title's English phrase.
Marisol's varied, distinctive lifestyle and multiracial family affirms our increasingly blended society and clearly celebrates independent thinking. Brava! (author's note) (Picture book. 5-8)
Copyright Kirkus 2011 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.
Publishers Weekly Reviews
The vivacious Peruvian-Scottish-American protagonist of this bilingual book has brown skin and hair "the color of fire." Her friends tell her that she "doesn't match," because of her appearance and her wardrobe, but when Marisol tones down her style, she realizes that it doesn't feel right. Palacio's collage work incorporates newsprint, vibrant patterns, and Peruvian motifs, echoing the message about being true to oneself. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)
[Page ]. Copyright 2011 PWxyz LLC
School Library Journal Reviews
PreS-Gr 2—Marisol McDonald has brown skin, freckles, and hair the color of fire. She pairs polka dots with stripes and eats peanut butter and jelly burritos. She's a Peruvian-Scottish-American who is perfect just the way she is. Why not have a game of soccer-playing pirates or mix cursive with print? That makes sense to Marisol. But others seem to see things differently. When another student issues a matching challenge to Marisol, she has to decide if she will conform simply to show that she can. In this lively bilingual book, Marisol is brought to life in both English and Spanish through Brown's dynamic prose, Palacios's vibrant illustrations, and Dominguez's outstanding translation. This fun book allows readers to meet a wonderful character. Children get a glimpse of what it means to grow up in a biracial family and have other people trying to define what is "normal." The story encourages readers to embrace their uniqueness and be exactly who they are.—Verónica Corral, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC
[Page 140]. (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
