A young Latina girl who hasn’t seen her papá in “one year, eight months and twenty-two days” is excited to learn in his weekly phone call that she and her mamá will be going to live with him in the United States. As time passes and they prepare to leave, it never occurs to the girl that her dog Kika won’t be coming. It’s heartbreak when she discovers the truth: Kika, like Abuela, will stay behind. Lawrence Schimel’s child-centered story about immigration is full of small, revealing details that bring the girl’s family and feelings into full relief. In the end, the girl’s grief at saying goodbye to Kika and her Abuela is tempered by knowing she’ll soon see her papá. And the journal she starts on the plane—to tell Abuela about everything that’s happening—mirrors the one she kept for her papá. A mix of sophisticated and childlike elements in the illustrations provide additional background details in a story that children can relate to on many levels. (Ages 5–9)

The little girl in this story likes Sundays best of all -- it's the day her father calls. She hasn't seen him for over a year because he works far away across the ocean in the United States. She writes in her notebook every day, keeping a record of everything that happens to share with him when she finally sees him again. And she thinks about the fun they used to have when he was home -- taking their dog Kika to the park and buying freshly baked bread together. Then one Sunday her father asks if she and her mother would like to join him, and she's surprised by her mixed feelings. It means leaving her grandmother, her friends . . . and Kika behind.

This is a powerful story from a young child's perspective about what it's like to have an absent parent and to have to leave your home, country and those you love for a new life.