Saturday Morning Cartoons- Speak Up, Santiago and Botticelli's Apprentice

Anta, Julio and Mendez, Gabi. Speak Up, Santiago.
March 4, 2025 by Random House Graphic

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Santiago lives with his mother (who is white) and his father (who is of Colombian descent) in New York City. His Spanish language skills aren't great, so he is spending a month with his abuela in the small community of Hillside Valley in the Hudson Valley. She lives in a charming cottage in the woods, but isn't far from the town center. Santiago is very worried that the two won't be able to communicate, but is glad to eat his grandmother's delicious cooking. He makes friends with local residents, Sol, Willie, Alejandro, and Nico, who have a secret soccer field in a clearing in the woods where they invite Santiago to play. They also take him on a tour of the charming town. Santiago is getting along with his grandmother until they attend a birthday party for one of her friends, and ovehears the ladies disparaging his speaking abilities and accent. His grandmother even laughs a bit over his accent. Since Santiago struggled with learning to speak, he takes this to heart, and it causes a lot of tension. He does compete in the soccer tournament with his new friends, and eventually talks to them about his struggles and feelings of insecurity. Bouyed by their support, he is able to talk to his grandmother about his feelings, and realizes that his Spanish skills are better than he suspects when he has to care for his grandmother after an injury. This is the first book in a Hillside Valley series. 

Strengths: Visiting a grandparent for the summer offers a gret way for middle grade children to experience a different location and culture without having to move, which, as we know, is an experience often fraught with ghosts. It's good to see Santiago connect with his grandmother, and also to see him explore the town with new friends. Existing in a family with more than one language is a challenge I haven't had to deal with, so it's good to see Anta bring his personal experiences to the story. Involving soccer in a book is always a good call. 
Weaknesses: Hillside Valley is a delightful location, but Santiago's internal struggles were rather protracted. This focus on personal troubles is definitely on trend for graphic novels, but I'd love to see some happier ones! 
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who enjoyed Cartaya's Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish or Granillo's Cruzita and the Mariacheros.

Husted, Ursula Murray. Botticelli's Apprentice 

March 11, 2025 by Quill Tree Books

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Mella's family lives near and works for the famous Italian Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli. Mella often tends the geese, but frequently is able to sneak into the workshop, since she loves to draw. She has to put up with Datus, who is an actual apprentice, but not very adept at anything. After Mella gets a deal on some pigment (which the stray dog, Blue, she adopts finds very tasty.. and expensive!) Datus asks her for more and more help and she is allowed to participate a bit more. When local art patron Mona Rosso announces a contest and Botticelli is too busy to do the work himself, the two children visit the woman to ask what she would like to see painted. They decide to paint her bird, and go back and forth on how to enter the picture. In the end, the picture doesn't win, but Mella gets offered an opportunity to paint for Mona Rosso. Extensive notes at the end of this graphic novel tell more information about the treatment of women and girls in the art scene during this time period, since Mella has more opportunities than girls at the time would normally have had. 

This was very well researched and had a lot of information about the process of painting as well as different techniques; I know more about egg gesso than I ever expected to know. The illustrations are brightly colored but a bit different from the standard middle grade ones. If you have students who really want to know more about art during the Renaissance or who enjoyed  historical graphic novels like Ink Girls or Aldridge's The Pale Queen, this would be a good choice.