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“Examining the challenges of being forced to leave one’s home, this visually gorgeous, nuanced work echoes stories from the African diaspora as well as global areas of conflict. Girmay’s folkloric text is simple and straightforward yet deeply moving… Ejaita’s textured illustrations use saturated color to brilliant effect as bright colors pop off the page against a background of deep, dark blues and blacks. A stunning and empathetic look at the struggles of displacement.”

– Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

Kamau and ZuZu Find a Way

Written by Aracelis Girmay
Illustrated by Diana Ejaita
Published by Enchanted Lion

One day, young Kamau and his grandmother ZuZu wake up to find themselves on the moon. Kamau doesn’t remember Back Home, but Grandma ZuZu does, and she misses it terribly.

Together, through cloth scraps and dance, letters and song, Kamau and ZuZu find a way to make a new life for themselves in this strange land: a new life which is not only rooted in the stories, memories, and traditions that ZuZu always carries with her, but which also lovingly reaches out across the vast expanse of space to connect and communicate with the family from which they’ve been separated.

Acclaimed poet Aracelis Girmay and illustrator Diana Ejaita together weave a powerful story inspired by the African diaspora, in which—despite the shock of being uprooted into this alien world, without being given any choice or explanation, and the sorrow that comes from the unfathomable distance separating them from their beloved community—Kamau and ZuZu find a way to live, as people do.

Primary ISBN: 9781592703890
Publication Date: August 2024
Available As: Hardcover, eBook
Picture Book, Age 06 or older

Community Represented:

Themes: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Setting: The Moon (Allegory)

Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: Refugee

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

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