HOME

In the wake of their lyrical rumination on Love (2018), de la Peña and Long ponder the incomparable possibilities of home.

Glimpses plucked from everyday lives—a parent and child cozying up at bedtime, a man fishing as his grandchild observes, a youngster at play as an airplane flies just beyond the window—offer potential representations of home. Perhaps home is a cozy bed on a big rig or a fancy high-rise with its doorman and pool. But, as de la Peña notes, “a home can be lost,” whether due to a flood, a job loss, or other unfortunate tides of life. The author’s constant reference to “you” beckons readers from the first page, capably pulling them from scenes of ordinary comforts to musings on sorrow and back. From there, home becomes a quiet father’s gentle guidance, a hardworking grandma rolling tortillas, and a welcome from a kind teacher. These moments of simple yet exceptional connections among people, and between cities and nature, build to a crescendo that harkens back to the “thump, thump, thump” of the human heart—a potent reminder of life’s promises. Similarly, Long’s acrylic art transforms portraits of ordinary days and nights into formidable reveries, featuring folks varied in skin color and cultural background. Of course, the penultimate double-page spread framed around a child’s pensive face—Earth reflected in the character’s eyes—is the most astounding. Publishes simultaneously in Spanish.

Simply divine.