🟢 Book Review: Still Dreaming by Claudia Guadalupe Martínez
- Abigail Hernandez
- Jul 23
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 8
RATING: 🟢 Recommended
REVIEWER: Abigail Hernandez
REVIEW METHODOLOGY: Louise Derman-Spark's Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Books from the Social Justice Books Project, Teaching for Change
Mamá reaches back and squeezes my hand. 'I’m not dreaming,"
I say and squeeze back…we move forward together.
What would it be like to suddenly be forced to leave home and move to a place you’ve only heard of in your parents' stories? Author Claudia Guadalupe Martinez and illustrator Magdalena Mora explore this reality in Still Dreaming / Seguimos Soñando through the lens of a small child in a pivotal point of history: The Mexican Repatriation of the 1930s. Told in Spanish and English, we follow a child grappling with the confusion and sadness of leaving their home in the U.S. to cross the border into Mexico with their parents. Through their driving journey, we learn the stories of hardworking Mexican-American families that contributed to America’s growth, but were then forced to leave.
As a Mexican-American, Martinez was inspired to write about the Mexican Repatriation after learning about its overlooked history. In 1929, when the Great Depression hit, Mexican immigrants and migrants alongside Mexican-Americans were accused of stealing the jobs of “real Americans.” These anti-Mexican sentiments led to about two million people (including U.S. citizens) being repatriated to Mexico.
This child’s story is one of many where families chose to leave to stay together. As the family drives, the child reminisces on the memories they will miss from their town. When the child’s family takes a pit stop at a campfire, they interact with various families like them who share their stories. Many contributed to America’s economy as business owners, railroad builders, farmers, meat plant workers, steel mill workers, and more. These families’ historical contributions are appreciated. Even through their uncertainty, the dreams of these families persist. As they near the border, the child reaches for their mom’s hand to tell her that they’re not done dreaming of a better future.
Mora’s illustrations blend gentle, colorful landscapes with flowy, dream-like palettes that reflect the sadness of leaving home and the hopefulness these families had. Hues of blue, pink, orange, purple, and green depict dreamy tones that symbolize memories and nostalgia. We also see the prominent symbol of the immigration justice movement, the monarch butterfly, in each page as if it’s accompanying the family on their journey.
In her Lee & Low Books interview, Martinez highlights how this is a “...universal story that could be happening at any moment in time.” This story reflects a reality for many families today. By telling the story from a child’s perspective, Martinez helps readers connect with the confusion and sadness families, especially children, experienced then and now. Yet, like this child, they hold onto hope for a better future. It reminds us of our youth today advocating for the rights of immigrant communities. I recommend this book to educators, parents, and young readers. I believe it’s a crucial book as it educates about an important moment in history. It’s one of the few children’s books that has touched on the Mexican Repatriation of the 1930s, thus allowing children’s curiosity to develop questions that can be an integral topic to teach in the classroom and at home.
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ABOUT THE REVIEWER
REVIEWER BIO: Abigail Hernandez was a student at Portland State University and took Zapoura Newton-Calvert's Social Justice in K12 Curriculum course. Their volunteer work was a partnership with Reading Is Resistance and the Social Justice Books Project from Teaching for Change.
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