DRITA, MY HOMEGIRL
INCLUDED IN 12 STATE READING LISTS

ARIZONA
Grand Canyon Reader Award

CONNECTICUT
Nutmeg Book Award

FLORIDA
Sunshine State Young Reader's Award

GEORGIA
Georgia Children's Book Award

IOWA
Iowa Children's Choice Award

KANSAS
William Allen White Children's Book Award

MAINE
Maine Student Book Award

MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Children's Book Award

OKLAHOMA
Sequoyah Children's Book Award

SOUTH CAROLINA
South Carolina Children's Book Awards

SOUTH DAKOTA
South Dakota Prairie Pasque Award

VIRGINIA
2011-2012 Virginia Readers Choice List

Jules Feiffer
Pulitzer prize-winning author
“In this sweet and engrossing first novel, Jenny Lombard draws on her background as a public school teacher to fashion an urban multi-ethnic / racial story that presents in alternating first-person chapters the evolution of an unlikely and difficult friendship — that of an African-American girl from the neighborhood and the unwelcome new kid in class: a girl from Kosovo who speaks no English.

Told simply, honestly, and with resonance, teacher Lombard has written a page-turner that teaches more than lesson.”

Kirkus Reviews
“Two girls from different worlds and cultures come together in this deft representation of immigration and multicultural friendship. Escaping the horror of war, persecution and destruction of their Albanian life, Drita and her family emigrate from Kosovo to New York City. Thrown into the school environment of rival groups and peer discrimination, Drita’s lack of English, coupled with her refugee status, immediately places her in a vulnerable position. Simultaneously, Maxie, a typical urban African – American girl, struggles to stay out of trouble despite peer influences and is assigned the task of learning about the new girl as part of her social-studies project. Brought together in this way, the two girls overcome barriers of language and custom to resolve issues they both have in common.

Alternating chapters in the voice of each girl reveal more similarities than differences. Both are missing mothers; Maxie is still adjusting to the accidental death of hers, while Drita is coping with her mother’s debilitating depression since leaving their war-torn country. Loving and level-headed grandmothers act as surrogates. Lombard does a fine job of portraying characters displaying growth through some serious circumstances while maintaining their childlike qualities.”