Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 11/01/2020 *Starred Review* When the violent Macoute raid Gabrielle’s Haitian village, her parents decide it’s in her best interest to live with her aunt and uncle in America until they can join her at a later date. Filled with excitement for a life in glorious New York City, Gabrielle soon finds that her expectations are extremely different from her reality in America, and soon she finds herself wishing she could just fit in. The question is: What would happen should those wishes come true? This refreshing middle-grade story offers a “new kid” narrative that defines the heart of what it means to be American in today’s world. Arnold champions the beauty and complexity of Gabrielle's culture, which is intensified by Caribbean mysticism, an unlikely (yet highly influential) character, and the bustling backdrop of the City of Dreams. The beauty of this book lies in its depiction of not only the joy and excitement but the sacrifice and weight of immigration for young people. Arnold is thorough and intentional in fleshing out what it means for Gabrielle to support her family back in Haiti, which heightens the stakes of her choices, making readers even more deeply invested into her success. This book will shift the notion of what exactly it means to be Black, to be an immigrant, and to fit in and be accepted. - Copyright 2020 Booklist.

School Library Journal - 07/30/2021 Gr 3–6—After moving from a close-knit community in Haiti to Brooklyn to live with her uncle and his family, Gabrielle realizes that life in the United States is not the paradise that she was led to believe. Finding herself the target of taunts at school, Gabrielle is desperate to become a "real" American, and she succumbs to the overtures of a wily witch who offers to grant wishes in return for Gabrielle's essence. Against the advice of her new friends Carmen (a human classmate) and Rocky (a talking rat), Gabrielle starts to use the wishes and discovers that her cultural identity is disappearing. Almost too late, she realizes her mistake, and she attempts to right the wrongs that her decisions caused. The story picks up in pace as Gabrielle gets more involved with the witch, and readers will find themselves unable to set the book down during the final chapters. The characters are well developed—even the school bully—and the prejudices that Gabrielle both witnesses and experiences are portrayed in a way that is frank and easy to understand. The interpersonal relationships and fantasy elements complement each other well, and Arnold navigates skillfully between the two. Gabrielle and her family are Black; her classmates and teachers come from a wide variety of backgrounds. VERDICT A fantasy adventure combined with a loving portrayal of Haitian culture and immigrant experiences creates an action-packed story with a lot of heart.—Sarah Reid, Four County Lib. Syst., NY - Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.