Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 08/01/2022 Gr 4–7—When George, who is Puerto Rican, is assigned community service hours working in his middle school cafeteria with "other students like you," he expects to be with the gifted kids, but instead, he finds out that the only thing he has in common with the volunteer group is that they are all Latinx students being unfairly stereotyped by their educators. There's Miguel, the jock who secretly loves drawing, who is Dominican; Dayara, a Cuban girl who constantly gets in trouble and struggles in school; Sara, a loner, who is Mexican; and Nico, a Venezuelan boy with a reputation as a stuck-up rich kid. By the end of the week, they are all called into the principal's office to explain how the five of them "conspired to do something." As each student tells their portion of the story, readers are shown the complexity and individuality of each of their lives, shattering the stereotypes that the adults and other students in the story place on them. However, what makes this modern Breakfast Club story truly unique is the use of Spanish and English text to expose readers to the complexities of multi-language literacy. Each character has their own level of ability with English and Spanish, making their individual voices and communication methods unique, but ample translations of both languages make for an enjoyable reading experience. VERDICT A welcome addition to any graphic novel collection, Invisible skillfully explores the negative impact of stereotyping while also offering an entertaining and spirited reading experience.—Amanda Melilli - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 07/01/2022 *Starred Review* Gonzalez and Epstein’s illuminating and engaging graphic novel begins in the principal’s office, where five Latino kids—George, Nico, Miguel, Dayara, and Sara—have been summoned. Over the course of the book, the circumstance that lands them in the office becomes clear: while assigned to community service duty in the cafeteria, which mostly involves being scolded by the lunch lady and picking up the yard outside, the group meets a little girl and her mom who are living in their van. The kids want to help, but doing so involves skirting around the lunch lady’s rules—even though they’re clearly doing a good thing. Gonzalez and Epstein nicely flesh out each kids’ characters with snippets of family lives or challenges at school, and the variety of their experiences offers a glimpse of the rich diversity of Latino experiences. All of the kids speak Spanish, to varying degrees, and the speech balloons not only include dialogue in both Spanish and English but neatly reveal miscommunication and even some linguistic jokes. In her inviting, warm, and expressive artwork, Epstein portrays a refreshing variety of body shapes, skin tones, and hair colors among the characters, which further emphasizes that there’s not one way to be Latino. With a sweet twist at the end, multifaceted characters, and moments of genuine comedy, this is pitch-perfect for anyone who loves Raina Telgemeier or Varian Johnson. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.

Booklist - 07/01/2022 - Copyright 2022 Booklist.