The Filipino American girl in this lyrical picture book describes summer by smells and tastes she associates with her grandmother’s visit. The smells of summer include the sampaguita soap Lola uses, the mango jam she makes, the cassava cake covered with custard in the oven, the “pinches of garlic and sharp vinegar” when they roll out lumpia. But it also smells like tennis balls, and chlorine at the pool, and sunscreen at the beach. The tastes of summer include “brown-sugar bananas on a balmy evening, just like Dad always ate when he was a kid.” When her grandmother finally returns to the Philippines, the senses of summer are already changing, “until finally it smells like freshly sharpened pencils, a stiff new backpack, and the last sweet bits of summer—in Lola’s mango jam.” Lively gouache and digital illustrations full of movement and light capture cultural details and the warmth of love and family, both implied and expressed in the narrative.
(Ages 4-7)

Four starred reviews! In an evocative picture book brimming with the scents, tastes, and traditions that define a young girl’s summer with her grandmother, debut author Michelle Sterling and illustrator Aaron Asis come together to celebrate the gentle bonds of familial love that span oceans and generations.

For one young girl, summer is the season of no school, of days spent at the pool, and of picking golden limes off the trees. But summer doesn’t start until her lola—her grandmother from the Philippines—comes for her annual visit.

Summer is special. For her lola fills the house with the aroma of mango jam, funny stories of baking mishaps, and her quiet sweet singing in Tagalog. And in turn, her granddaughter brings Lola to the beach, to view fireworks at the park, and to catch fish at their lake.

When Lola visits, the whole family gathers to cook and eat and share in their happiness of another season spent together. Yet as summer transitions to fall, her lola must return home—but not without a surprise for her granddaughter to preserve their special summer a bit longer.

* BookPage Best Books of the Year * The New York Public Library's Best Books of the Year * Kirkus Best Books of the Year * An ALSC Notable Children's Book of the Year * A CCBC Choices Pick of the Year * Banks Street Best Children's Books of the Year *