Sisters All the Time

Half-sisters Luz and Mari, both drawn with light brown skin and darker brown hair, cherish the time they spend together every Saturday, playing and giggling all dat at their Papi’s house. However, when Sunday rolls around, the girls are sad to part ways as they must return to their separate lives. One Sunday, Luz’s mom runs late, giving the sisters the unexpected gift of an extra two hours together. How will they make the most of this precious time? In this installment of the “Steamworks” series, Padron uses the story of Luz and Mari to demonstrate how to keep track of and tell time. The girls map out their ideas with estimated time needed for each activity—from setting up dominoes to making “the longest trail ever,” to playing “fashion show,” their excitement jumps off each page as they plan how to spend their extended time. Padron beautifully captures the bond between Luz and Mari through their joyfully illustrated expressions in her art and their lively dialogue from beginning to end. The girls check in with clocks digital and analog throughout, until Luz’s mother arrives; the special sisters shed a tear because they can’t be together “24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” but assure each other that they will be hermanitas (little sisters) 365 days a year. VERDICT A fun and heartwarming story that celebrates the special connection shared between sisters in blended families while reinforcing concepts related to learning about time.
—School Library Journal

How will two half sisters spend an unexpected windfall of time together?
“Mari loved Saturdays. That’s when her half sister, Luz, came to visit” for the weekend. Naturally, they’re delighted one Sunday when they learn that Luz’s mom will be two hours late to pick her up. What can the pair do to make the most of their bonus time together? After ruling out favorite activities that take longer than two hours, the girls make a list of “Fun Stuff” and the amount of time they imagine each activity will take (“board games / 25 min.,” “puppet show / 50 min.”). They recalibrate as they go (“We only have 1 hour left, so…that leaves 40 minutes for the show”) while encountering the occasional setback; the suspense ramps up as Mari and Luz race against the clock (a digital display appears on several pages toward book’s end). A fine addition to the series, this boisterous introduction to time management also finds the girls reflecting on being part of a blended family. The dialogue, which is dusted with Spanish words and phrases, contains a bit of clunky exposition, but Quezada Padron’s storytelling is ever efficient, with help from tidy digital illustrations—a good look in a book promoting the benefits of being organized. Both girls are cued Latine, with brown hair and skin.
A smooth-running lesson in time management.
—Kirkus Reviews

Angela Quezada Padron is a Latina author-illustrator who spent childhood days doodling on garage walls of her New Jersey home and summers visiting family in the Dominican Republic. Angela writes and illustrates both fiction and nonfiction children’s books, including As the Seas Rise: Nicole Hernandez Hammer and the Fight for Climate Justice. When she’s not working on stories, Angela loves to create fine art and music, collect seashells, watch sports, and admire the natural world.

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