Fighting words

When Ali's cousin Ama takes his favorite insect book and handles it roughly, it results in a tussle--and a torn page. The anger Ali immediately feels transforms into shouted words; Medina (Adela's Mariachi Band) shapes the letters of the phrase "I hate you" into black stick figures with toothy mouths and raised hands. The words first push Ama, then go on a tear, ripping the sofa cushions, jumping out the window, and crushing Abuelita's flowers ("They even tried to punch a bee"). Ali fetches a net, and the family chases the words as they do still more damage, biting a neighborhood dog and trapping Ama under the net. Medina captures the action in cartoon-style artwork that makes the Latinx-cued characters' facial expressions easy to read. At last, Ali discovers that making amends causes the words to grow smaller. Even simple truth-telling ("I'm still angry") shrinks the letters, which "flickered and disappeared" in the face of repair. In clear language, Carranza (Abuelita and Me) writes a fast-moving fable that casts hurtful language as a literal force and focuses not just on regulating emotion but on the power of peacemaking, too. Ages 4--7. (Sept.)