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Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like Displacement and The Magic Fish.
Ignacio "Iggy" Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.
Call me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately—as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election—his country.
"A powerful, timely story delicately balances an authentic teenage voice with a nuanced message about embracing and straddling multiple identities while thoughtfully portraying racism, microaggressions, and anti-immigrant ideology." ―Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Rosado utilizes softly lined illustrations and shifting color palettes to cue changes in mood, time, and setting throughout, while empathetic dialogue by Aguirre imbues pathos and humor into charged yet smartly balanced conversations surrounding colonization, compulsory assimilation, Latinx culture, personal identity, and the political climate as it was during the 2016 election." ―Publishers Weekly
"The romance between Iggy and Marisol is tender and chaste, and Iggy's growth is clear as he negotiates the needs and advice of others with his own hopes for the future." ―BCCB
This information about Call Me Iggy was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jorge Aguirre is an author and two-time Emmy-nominated animation writer. He co-created and wrote the graphic novel series, The Chronicles of Claudette. The New York Times called the first book in the series, Giants Beware!, a, "Rollicking fun story." It also received a starred review from Publisher's Weekly and was a nominee for a Texas Bluebonnet Award. He wrote the book, Call Me Iggy, and is working on its sequel. He's also writing a new graphic novel series, Monster Locker, with art by Andrés Vera Martínez. His animation work includes co-creating Disney Junior's Goldie & Bear. He's the Head Writer and Co-EP for the PBS Kids/Fred Rogers Production show Alma's Way. A Colombian-American born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Jorge calls the great state of New Jersey home.
Born in Puerto Rico and based in Columbus, Ohio, Rafael is a seasoned writer, director and storyboard artist for the animation industry. Highly diverse, he has storyboarded on action, comedy and pre-school shows, shows as diverse as Scooby Doo, Transformers, The Batman, Looney Tunes and Curious George. He's the co-creator and Illustrator of the graphic novels Giants Beware!, Dragons Beware!, and Monsters Beware!, published by First Second Books. His work is featured in the latest edition of the Comics Squad anthology, published by Random House books, and the Latinographix Collection, from OSU Press.
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