By Maureen Tai, 17 September 2023

There’s a lot to like about Mexikid, a graphic memoir (ages 10+) about Pedro, a American boy of Mexican heritage, and his big family (11 members in all, enough for a full mariachi band as wryly observed by a waiter in the novel). The illustrations: energetic and boldly coloured, largely in comic-style but also in realistic, swirling watercolours. The characters: engaging, relatable and so well-developed that even though there are so many of them, you don’t ever feel lost or confused. The setting: the pre-Internet days of late 1970s America/Mexico, peppered with nostalgic references (at least to much older readers like myself) to popular tv shows (Happy Days), iconic technology (cassette tapes), and questionable comestibles (Pop Rocks). The culture: Mexican food, drink, music and warm, Spanish-speaking families (all big of course!). And lastly, the story: a humorous account of an epic family road trip by secondhand winnebago to transport Pedro’s elderly (yet extremely robust) abuelito from Mexico to the USA. As a kid, I used to watch a tv show called The Waltons and it made me wish I came from a big, rambunctious, bickering, jostling family. Mexikid made me feel the same way, all over again. A lively and engrossing read that will appeal to middle graders, in particular boys obsessed with superheroes, imaginary or real. (Many thanks to the independent publisher, Guppy Books, for making a copy available to me on NetGalley).

Ages 10 and up.