Review
Title: Only a Trenza Away: A Tale of Trust and Strength
Author: Nadine Fonseca
Illustrator: Camila Carrossine
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Genre: Children’s literature
Year Published: 2023
Number of Pages: 28
Binding: Hardocover
ISBN-13: 9781639930982
Price: $ 18.99
Reviewed by Gabriel González for the Association for Mormon Letters
In Only a Trenza Away I found a tender story about the bond between fathers and daughters. It tells a story about a little girl named Xiomara who gets her hair braided by her father every night before going to bed. (Trenza, for the uninitiated in the Spanish language, means “braid.”) As he braids her hair, they spin tales of magical adventures that are very meaningful to Xiomara. But one night Xiomara’s father is very late from work and is unable to braid her hair. The little girl is devastated and feels insecure without her father’s braiding. Eventually, dad shows up and teaches her that the bonding they have done through all the hours of braiding will remain with her forever. Thus, the act of braiding is both a practical necessity but also a way for one generation to pass down their love and strength to the next. This empowers the little girl as she now understands that her father will always be “only a trenza away.”
The book is loosely based on the childhood memories of Nadine Fonseca, who self-identifies as “neurodivergent” and “a biracial Latina, wife, and mother of four.” She is the daughter of a Guatemalan father, and she weaves in elements from the Latin experience. Perhaps where this is most evident in the use of words such as trenza and mija. Even so, the reader gets the sense that this is not meant to be a book about Latin cultures. Rather, the story is grounded on an ever-more-visible part of the American cultural mosaic, but it remains a universal story. The story is about the strength we derive from family and the value of ritual and tradition.
This is all comes to life gorgeously through the work of Brazilian illustrator Camila Carrossine. The art matters, of course, because with illustrated books for children, the artwork is just as important as the story. And Carrossine’s are very clever illustrations. They are fantastical and colorful, with a palette that fits the tone and pacing of the story perfectly.
At this point, I should probably share an anecdote. I’ve been reading children’s literature for a little over a decade. For me, this started when my daughters were very small. Every night, I would read to them a bedtime story. Eventually, my children started reading on their own at night, but all those years provided us with awesome memories and a fondness for children’s books. I even started writing my own books for children. While none of this qualifies me as an expert on children’s literature, it has taught me that children are the best judges for this kind of literature. So when I received Only a Trenza Away in the mail, I knew I would call on my daughters to decide whether the book was any good. We sat on the couch and read together. When we finished, I asked them what they thought. Even though they are slightly older than the 4-9 target range for the book, they both really enjoyed it. More importantly, it served as a conversation starter about some of the themes in the book. If that anecdote is any indication, the book serves its purpose well.