washington heights (new york, n.y.)

Told in alternating voices, follows Miguel and his newly adopted street savvy cat Lolo as they build a loving and supportive friendship in Washington Heights.

A young Dominican American girl in New York City moves from jealousy to empathy as her parents babysit children whose families work the overnight shift in this picture book debut. Night after night, a young girl watches her mami set up a cot in the living room for guests in their Washington Heights apartment, like Raquel (who's boring) and Edgardo (who gets crumbs everywhere). She resents that they get the entire living room with a view of the George Washington Bridge, while all she gets is a tiny bedroom with a view of her sister (who snores). Until one night, no one comes, and it's finally her chance! But as it turns out, sleeping in the cot in the living room isn't all she thought it would be. A celebration of the ways a Dominican American community takes care of one another while showing young readers that sometimes the best way to be a better neighbor is by imagining how it feels to spend a night sleeping on someone else's pillow.

Esperanza did not risk her life fleeing the Dominican Republic to live in a tenement in Washignton Heights. No, she left for the glittering dream she saw on television: JR, Bobby Ewing and the crystal chandeliers of 'Dallas'. But years later, she is still stuck in a cramped apartment with her husband, Santo, and their two children, Bobby and Dallas. She works as a home aide and, at night, stuffs unopened bills from the credit card company in her lingerie drawer where Santo won't find them when he returns from driving his livery cab. Despite their best efforts, they cannot seem to change their present circumstances. But when Santo's mother dies, back in Los Llanos, and his father, Don Chan, comes to Nueva York to live out his twilight years in the Colons small apartment, nothing will ever be the same.