“Every day,” Angelina tells her mother that she wants “to go home.” Her mother always answers that Angelina “is home now” (n.p.). But Angelina is homesick for her former West Indian home. She dreams of the food she used to enjoy and misses the sea, her school, the rainbow-colored birds, and her grandmother. Then, her mother reads about the Carnival. When Angelina dances in her beautiful costume, she finally accepts New York as her home. Glowing full-color illustrations in flat perspective highlight the contrast be tween Angelina’s homes. They are framed, like pages, in rectangular panels against solid colored backgrounds. 2008 Américas Award Commended Title. Jeanette Winter’s awards include the 2005 Flora Stieglitz Award for The Librar ian of Basra: A True Story from Iraq . hc, nrz

Every day I tell Mama,
I want to go home.
Every day she tells me,
We are home, Angelina.
New York is home now.
 
Angelina's heart aches for Jamaica, and no matter how much Mama talks of having a better life in New York, Angelina still dreams about mangos, johnnycake, rainbow-colored birds, and the warmth of the sand under her feet. Then one day Mama sees something in the paper about Carnival in Brooklyn, New York, and she thinks she may have found a way to soothe Angelina's homesickness.
 
With vibrant colors that seem to dance right off the page, Jeanette Winter pays homage to Jamaica and the traditions of the West Indian people.