Mauntie and Me

by Rajani Larocca (Author) Nadia Alam (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

What grows when you share it? A tender story of extended family, jealousy pangs, and above all love, from the Newbery Honor-winning author of I'll Go and Come Back.

Every Saturday, when Priya's aunties and uncles and cousins come over, the other kids run off to play together, leaving Priya behind. But she doesn't mind, because she gets to have her favorite aunt, Mauntie--short for My Auntie--all to herself. Until, that is, her older cousin Aditi comes to visit and wants to share Mauntie's attention. Priya doesn't want to share--she wants things to go back to the way they were! With Mauntie's help, can she find a way to ease her feelings of jealousy and make room in their family duo for one more? Nadia Alam's artwork details a cozy home and a big, loving family in this sweet story by Rajani LaRocca of taming cousin rivalry that will appeal to anyone who has ever felt like the odd one out or struggled to share something precious.

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Publishers Weekly

A South Asian child feels her closeness with a beloved aunt may be threatened in this insightful tale about shifting relationships. Each the youngest in their respective families, Priya and Mauntie (short for My Auntie) spend time together when their relatives gather each week: Mauntie "cooked the tastiest treats, fashioned the fanciest hairdos, and told the best riddles." A visit from cousin Aditi, who's only a year older than Priya, finds her staying behind with them when the older cousins head off to play. Priya struggles throughout the visit until a reveal from Aditi suggests that more of the new dynamic will follow. Promising a day together, "just the two of us," Mauntie also presents a riddle, leading Priya to ponder, "What grows when you share it?" Alam's appealing digital and pencil illustrations show Mauntie and the two cousins amid bustling household scenes, hinting at the way families, and relational dynamics, grow and change. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 3-7. (Nov.)

Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

ALA/Booklist

A gentle exploration of shifting family dynamics.

Rajani Larocca
Rajani LaRocca was born in India, raised in Kentucky, and now lives in the Boston area with her wonderful family and impossibly cute dog. She earned a BA and an MD from Harvard and spends her time writing novels and picture books, practicing medicine, and baking too many sweet treats. She is the author of Midsummer's Mayhem, Much Ado About Baseball, The Secret Code Inside You, Seven Golden Rings, and Red, White, and Whole, which was a Newbery Honor winner. Find her online at RajaniLaRocca.com, and on Twitter and Instagram @rajanilarocca.

Chris Baron is the award-winning author of The Gray, All of Me, an NCTE Notable Book, and The Magical Imperfect, a Sydney Taylor Book Award Notable Book, a SLJ Best Book of 2021. He is a professor of English at San Diego City College and the director of the Writing Center. He grew up in New York City, but he completed his MFA in poetry in 1998 at SDSU. He lives in San Diego, California, with his family. Find out more about him at chris-baron.com.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781536229417
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Candlewick Press (MA)
Publication date
November 12, 2024
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV011020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Asian American
Library of Congress categories
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