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“When a child moves to the city, he misses the friendly sounds of the rainforest in Puerto Rico.Ren lives with his mother and grandmother on the fringes of el Yunque, the rainforest in Puerto Rico…It’s an idyllic “place of endless possibility, where anything he imagined became real,” and so Ren plays with dragons, unicorns, fairies, and kings, and he goes to sleep to the croaks of the coquís. All this changes when he moves with his mother to the city. Its loud mechanical sounds crowd his head and leave no room for wild, making him feel lonely. Meanwhile, Ava, a girl who lives upstairs, is “never lonely. She loved her building and she loved her city.” So when Ren tells her why he’s not happy, Ava is determined to make him see the city with different eyes.”

– Kirkus Reviews

A New Kind of Wild

Written by Zara González Hoang
Illustrated by Zara González Hoang
Published by Dial Books

For Ren, home is his grandmother’s little house, and the lush forest that surrounds it. Home is a place of magic and wonder, filled with all the fantastical friends that Ren dreams up. Home is where his imagination can run wild.

For Ava, home is a brick and cement city, where there’s always something to do or see or hear. Home is a place bursting with life, where people bustle in and out like a big parade. Home is where Ava is never lonely because there’s always someone to share in her adventures.

When Ren moves to Ava’s city, he feels lost without his wild. How will he ever feel at home in a place with no green and no magic, where everything is exactly what it seems? Of course, not everything in the city is what meets the eye, and as Ren discovers, nothing makes you feel at home quite like a friend.

Inspired by the stories her father told her about moving from Puerto Rico to New York as a child, Zara González Hoang’s author-illustrator debut is an imaginative exploration of the true meaning of “home.”

Primary ISBN: 9780525553892
Publication Date: April 2020
Available As: Hardcover, eBook
Picture Book, Age 04 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , ,

Setting: Puerto Rico, United States (New York City NY)

Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Home Country, Immigrant

Book Creator(s) Connection to the Community Represented: Own Voices/Lived Experience

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Engagement Materials:

Read Aloud With Author Zara Gonzalez Hoang

Source: Brightly Storytime