Miosotis Flores Never Forgets

October 11, 2021
The loving, Pennsylvania-based Dominican American family at the center of this engaging, clear-eyed novel has much to consider. Overachieving, light-skinned UPenn sophomore Amarilis is planning her wedding to Rich, a white Penn senior reliant on his father’s connections to secure his med school future. Middle brother Jacinto just got his driver’s license—only to be pulled over by a racist police officer. Dark-skinned, thick-haired sixth grader and narrator Miosotis just wants a dog. Her father, a professor at UPenn, agrees to adopt one if Miosotis can bring her C in science up to an A. As Miosotis realizes she needs to research a topic on her own, she recalls her mother, who died shortly after giving birth to her, and decides to report on discrepancies in maternal health among women of color. But when Miosotis learns an upsetting secret about Rich and Amarilis, her focus shifts, and wise neighbor Gina must help her see that supporting Amarilis means letting her make her own decisions, on her own timeline. Burgos builds a believable world in which strength of character is complex and contextual, deftly interweaving realities of racism and misogyny. Ages 9–12.