Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation

Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation

Illustrator

Leslie Staub

Publisher

Dial Books

Publication Year

2015

ISBN

9780525428091

Pages

32 pages

Genre

realism

Format

picture book

Item Type

Fiction

Annotation

When Saya's mother is sent to jail as an illegal immigrant, she sends her daughter a cassette tape with a song and a bedtime story, which inspires Saya to write a story of her own -- one that just might bring her mother home.

Grade Level

K-3

Lexile Measure

NC890L

Diversity Topics

Family Relationships; Culture/Ethnicity; Incarceration; Immigrants and refugees; mother in prison; prison; visitor's day; immigrant family; undocumented immigrant; immigrant mother; family separation

Main Character

female child

Race/Ethnicities

Latinx (Haitian American)

Family Formation

mother and father

Awards

Charlotte Zolotow Award, 2016, Highly Commended
Cybils Awards, 2015, Nominee, Fiction Picture Book
Jane Addams Children's Book Award, 2016, Honor, Younger Readers
20 Years of Dia, 2016 K-Grade 2
Best Children's Books of the Year, 2016 Ages 5 to 9
Best of the Best Books, 2015 Picture Book
Choices, 2016 Picture Books for School-Age Children
Core Collection: Picture-Book Refugee and Immigration Stories, 2017
CSMCL Best Books, 2015 Children's Literature
Kirkus Book Review Stars, 2015
New York Public Library's 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing, 2015 Picture Book

Keywords

nightingale; recording; story; interview; reporter; judge; trial; release; reunion

Diversity Impact

direct

Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation

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