Best of Both Parents is a story that address the topic of multi-race families and provides a perspective from a little girl.
Thora and Valkyrie are twin sisters whose mother always tells them they are the best of both parents. They are multi-race kids - their mother is Puerto Rican and Lebanese, and their father is African American.
Unfortunately, people are not always kind to them – adults and children both. They are made fun of how they look because they are different from their parents. Thora does not understand why people are so mean. The twins are normal kids who like to do normal things like write, sing, and cook.
As they prepare for their summer vacation, Thora thinks about her family, all she has learned, and how her and her sister are pieces of everyone they love.
I felt the story was more about diversity and multi-race families and less about being the best of both parents as the title suggests. The concept of being the best of both parents is addressed at the beginning and then at the end, but not in the middle.
The good: This is the first story about a multi-race family that I have read which I thought was nice. The world is changing, and the characters of books should reflect this. It also gives the perspective of a little girl and how she, and her sister, feels when people make fun of her. Readers will feel bad and hopefully learn to be kind to all, no matter what they look like. The illustrations are nice, bright, and colorful. They support the story well.
The not so good: There was no flow to the story. There was a lot going on and it felt like I was reading about many different things as opposed to one topic.
I think this is a story to be told but the details must be ironed out and reconstructed. Good luck!
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