The Book of the Week was chosen by Shirl Maldonado, Senior Library Technical Assistant at the North East Branch Library. She chose Dreamers by Yuyi Morales for our series on immigrant stories.

“Yuyi Moreales is one of my favorite author/illustrators,” Maldonado said. “‘Dreamers’ is Yuyi’s biography. Yuyi came to the United States from Mexico in 1994, with her 2-month-old son and a backpack. She did not understand English and everything was new and different for her here. It was overwhelming and she felt invisible, until one day she discovered a library. She was amazed at the library and the freedom and joy she found inside. Finding that library changed her life. She started making books out of paper and ribbons and today Yuyi has published and illustrated several books. My favorite line from the book is: “We are resilience, we are hope, we are Dreamers.” This book shows that we are all dreamers.”

Readers can find “Dreamers” using their Kansas City Public Library card as a downloadable eBook, downloadable audiobook or paper copy.