This Train is Being Held

I am honored to again be reviewing books for the Multicultural Children's Book Day who's official date is 1/31/20.  I have been sent a box full of books to read and review in honor of MCBD.  My first pick from my pile was so enjoyable the other books have a lot to compete with in this one.

This Train is Being Held

by Ismee Williams

5 stars.  This book epitomizes what Multicultural Children's Book Day is all about.  Its topics span racism, profiling, mental health, and socioeconomic differences.  Thank you to Amulet Books, Abrams The Art of Books for sending me this book to review.

Isa Warren and Alex Rosario could not be any different.  Isa is a blond, half Cuban/half Irish, ballet dancer who lives on Park Avenue. Alex goes to a public high school near Yankees Stadium.  His school is known to produce some great baseball players and he is one of them.  He also is Dominican-American, parents are divorced and his father lives in Brooklyn, and used to play for the Yankees.  Alex is from the "other side of the tracks".  However, they have similarities.  They are both very passionate about their activities: dance and baseball.  They both are very close with their families.  They also have secrets in their lives that they aren't sharing with each other or anyone.  They meet on the train/subway and from there the relationship and story grows.  

What kept on striking me throughout this book is how I will never know what it feels like to not be a Caucasian woman.  I will never know how it feels to be judged by the color of my skin.  This book again and again reminded me about how easy it is to make judgment of others without really knowing their story, who they are, who they really are.  

I also loved the way the author used the subway as a setting, but it was more; it was a character in the book.  I loved visualizing the people, the sounds, and NYC through the subway's eyes.  

I also really enjoyed how she melded language in this book.  Some of the dialogue between Alex and his friends, parents and even Isa included Spanish.  The author did a great job of writing the dialogue in Spanish and then having the English fall behind it for those of us who've been away from our 8th grade Spanish class for too long.

I'd recommend this book for 8th-12th graders.  Perfect YA- I call it perfect because that type of YA is enjoyable for all readers, even adults. 

Lastly, I didn't read the bio of the author until the very end and she's not only an author, but a pediatric cardiologist.  I'm a pediatric nurse practitioner who works in pediatric cardiology so loved this extra connection.  

The following is further information about MCBD.  #ReadYourWorld
Multicultural Children’s Book Day 2020 (1/31/20) is in its 7th year! This non-profit children’s literacy initiative was founded by Valarie Budayr and Mia Wenjen; two diverse book-loving moms who saw a need to shine the spotlight on all of the multicultural books and authors on the market while also working to get those book into the hands of young readers and educators.
Seven years in, MCBD’s mission is to raise awareness of the ongoing need to include kids’ books that celebrate diversity in homes and school bookshelves continues.