Getting us to Grandma's

Getting us to Grandma's

Nadia L. Hohn

Book - 2024

"No one knows maps like Nikki -- but can she get her family to Grandma's house in time? Nikki's family is preparing for a long road trip from Toronto to the Bronx to attend Uncle Travis's wedding. They pack their suitcases, boxes of Jamaican black cake, and most importantly to Nikki, the big map book! Nikki loves geography and enjoys tracing the routes to all the places her relatives live -- her Grandpa in Florida, her cousins in Atlanta, DC, and Boston. She daydreams of England, where other family lives, and Jamaica and Africa, where her roots run deep. Her attention comes back to the road trip when it's clear that Daddy's taken a wrong turn. "I can help!" says Nikki, who proves to be an excellent na...vigator. She guides them back to the Bronx Expressway, under the elevated subway tracks, onto a street of brown row houses and safely to Grandma's. Inspired by the childhoods of author Nadia L. Hohn and illustrator TeMika Grooms, Getting to Grandma's House is full of fun historic details -- a world before Google Maps! -- and authentic cultural moments shared by diasporic families, whose stories can be traced across continents. A fantastic representation of Black girls in STEM."--

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Subjects
Automobile travel > Juvenile fiction.
Map reading > Juvenile fiction.
Maps > Juvenile fiction.
Weddings > Juvenile fiction.
Bronx (New York, N.Y.) > Juvenile fiction.
Fiction.
Picture books.
Genres
Fiction
Picture books
Published
Toronto, ON ; Berkeley, CA : Groundwood Books/House of Anansi Press 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
Nadia L. Hohn (author)
Other Authors
TeMika Grooms (illustrator)
Physical Description
1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 28 cm
Issued also in electronic format
ISBN
9781773066899
Contents unavailable.
Review by School Library Journal Review

K-Gr 2--A young Black girl and her family travel to New York City from Toronto for a family wedding in the early 1980s. The family relies on a road atlas to make their way. Nikki is anxious to follow the route, but her older brother has a firm grip on the atlas. Gazing out the window, Nikki reflects on the global connections that are part of her family, with roots in Africa, Jamaica, and beyond. Eventually, everyone but Nikki and her father fall asleep, and as they near New York City, Nikki helps her father when he misses his exit. This is a pleasant reminiscence more than a story. The illustrator makes the most of familiar road trip sights with shifts in lighting, perspective, and scenery. VERDICT An affirming family story featuring a smart young woman showing off her solid map skills.--John Scott

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review

In the 1980s, Jamaican Canadian Nikki, her siblings, and their parents drive from Toronto to New York for Uncle Travis's wedding. Nikki traces their journey in a road atlas, reflecting on the places that connect her bloodline. After a missed turn, Nikki's confident map-reading helps them reach Grandma's house on time. The realist digital illustrations use multiple perspectives, saving the story's confined automobile setting from monotony. This nostalgic story highlights Black girl brilliance and diasporic identity. (c) Copyright 2025. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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