Lalo Lespérance Never Forgot
Written by Phillippe Diederich
Published by Penguin Young Readers Group
Lalo Lesperance lives with his older brother and Mexican American mother in a low-income apartment building in Fort Myers. They moved there from a subdivision after the family lost Lalo’s Haitian American father. At school, Lalo is known as the boy who can’t remember anything and needs special help in all his classes. But when the first COVID lockdown hits, he finds himself in a friendship of convenience with Vivi, a Mexican American kid his age who gets perfect grades and who never gave him a second thought when they were in school. Vivi’s abuela watches the kids while their mothers work long shifts as nurses at a clinic slammed by COVID. As Lalo navigates his much smaller pandemic world, he discovers his apartment building has its own mysteries, like a sinister stranger in an old RV and a storage closet full of junk, including an old radio that just might hold the key to remembering why Lalo’s family moved to the apartment and what happened to his father.
Primary ISBN: 9780593354285
Publication Date: September 2023
Available As: Hardcover, Audiobook, eBook
Middle Grade , Age 10 or older
Community Represented: Haitian/Haitian American, Mexican/Mexican American
Themes: Audiobook, Coming of Age, Cross-Group Friendship, Diverse Abilities: Neurological, Family Relationship: Grandparents, Generation: 2nd, Multilingual Character, Multiracial Identity, Trauma & Healing: Death of Family or Friend
Setting: United States (Fort Myers FL)
Character's Place in the Immigration Journey: 2nd Generation
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