About this item
A young girl harnesses the power of music to bridge the distance between the Dominican Republic and Washington Heights in this jubilant picture book debut by Angie Cruz, bestselling and award-winning author of Dominicana.. Angélica has spent the summer in the Dominican Republic with her tías and primas, her grandparents, and their parrot, but soon she'll have to say goodbye. The end of summer means returning home to start school on another shore. Before she leaves, her grandfather gives her the perfect gift. It's something with the power to make people dance as fast as the wings of a hummingbird: a güira. Angélica falls in love with this musical instrument, though nobody shares her enthusiasm at first. "What is that sound," they say, "pennies inside a tin cup?" But on a hot, sunny day, in the land of Washington Heights, where the frío frío woman scrapes ice for a long line of customers and the men on the corner plunk dominoes on a makeshift carboard table, Angélica shows her neighbors the power of la güira.
About the Author
Angie Cruz is a New York born Dominicana who traveled to and from NYC to D.R. for most of her formative years. Her first novel, Soledad (2001) and second novel, Let It Rain Coffee (2005) were both published by Simon & Schuster. Her novel, Dominicana, published Fall 2019 with Flatiron Books, was inspired by her mother's arrival story. To research this novel Angie scoured many photo albums and this inspired the digital photo archive accessed through instagram: @dominicanasnyc. For the past twenty years Angie has attended numerous writing residencies, including Yaddo, The Macdowell Colony, Art Omi, The Camargo Foundation and Fundacion Valparaiso. Her works earned her many awards and honors including The New York Foundation of the Arts Fellowship, the Pittsburgh Foundation Fellowship, the NALAC Fellowship and in 2007. Her short stories and essays have been featured in numerous journals and anthologies including Small Axe, Gulf Coast Literary Journal, Callaloo, VQR and the New York Times. Angie is currently an Associate Professor at University of Pittsburgh. The co-founder and editor of the award winning literary journal, Aster(ix) . She divides her time between Pittsburgh, New York and Turin.
