Reviews for A bike like Sergio's

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergios. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonnys Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Rubens chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: I remember how it was for me when that money that was hersthen minewas gone. When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, happy and mixed up, full and empty. Readers will be pleased that theres no reward for Rubens choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a familys care and pride. Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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