This a lighthearted novel that does an excellent job dealing with some deeper issues. Trigger warnings: war, death, and aging.

The relationships between Tatang and his family are lovely and well thought out much like Front Desk by Kelly Yang. I really thought the author's use of foods, stories, and traditions that were unique to the Filipino experience were much appreciated. We need more diverse stories and I think this book checks all the boxes and I hope to see more books like this one. I appreciate seeing underrepresented cultures and how they can connect us to each other. Disappointment is something that happens in life and this book does a good job in showing the reality that no all endings are happy. Everything does not always work out but there is an acceptance and compromise with the ending.

This was a very sweet story and I loved the relationship between Kaia and her great-grandfather. Heartwarming and an easy read, I see this appealing to a lot of kids.

There are some interesting things going on with this plot. The central conflicts are fairly standard though the combination is unique. Those conflicts are big enough that they could become overwhelming but Respicio has tied them together so completely that they become a single plot. There is plenty of action driving the emotional elements. Solid messaging and a fairly gentle plot.

this is such a cute book to breeze through! it is light and easy but with topics discussed in a way that is heartwarming. i love the dynamics between the main character and her great grandpa! middle grades always have the cutest relationship between family members and i loved how this book explored that too! it is toooo wholesome and it makes me go awwww because i get to kind of see myself in it. asian representation yes! i love the asian culture and as a proud asian i am able to relate it to a lot! my favorite quote "I see sunshine everywhere I turn. " and i absolutely love this book!

This own voices title has lots of heart and will encourage kids to explore their creative side and appreciate their loved ones.

Mae Respicio is one of those authors that has a perfect middle-grade voice. I adored THE HOUSE THAT LOU BUILT and this next book lived up to that one and more. Can't what to see what she writes next! I will definitely be selling and have sold this book already!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's Wendy Lamb Books for sharing this book with the LitReviewCrew in exchange for an honest review. What makes this book stand apart from other middle grade novels is that it is a shorter novel and is very accessible to most readers. I also loved the focus on culture and relationships. Having grandparents is an amazing thing for a young child, but grandparents do age and things change quickly. This is a beautiful story and made me feel warm and cozy while reading. It will be a great book to recommend to my students.

Such a heartwarming book! I truly enjoyed learning about Filipino culture. The sharing of one's history is central to this book as is the relationship between the main character and her great-grandfather. I believe middle-grade readers will enjoy reading this book. I hope they leave it with a deeper appreciation of their own family's story.
Highly Recommended!

A fun, sweet look at a girl's relationship with her great-grandfather and with her Filipino heritage.

Sweet story of a young girl and her love for her grandfather and her family. I was touched by the extent of care and concern shown by the girl and her friends for the elderly. This is not seen so much today.

I love to learn new things and Any Day With You by Mae Respicio delivers with Fillipino culture, history and film-making.

Kaia dreams of being a makeup artist. She is spending the summer at a day camp with her best friends filmmaking. This coincides with her great-grandfather’s announcement that he will be leaving California to return to his home in the Philippines. Kaia is trying her best to make him decide to stay. This desire leads her to learn more about her great-grandfather’s past. A beautiful story of family and friendship, of adversity and love.

TEACHING CONNECTIONS: A great one to use with a connection to a World War II unit. You could challenge students to write and film their own short stories or create a book trailer of this novel.

This was one of my favorite books of the year so far. I loved how Filipino culture took center stage in this coming of age story.

A slice-of-life story, perfect for summer reading. Kaia and her friends make a monster movie inspired by Filipino folklore in the hopes of convincing her beloved great-grandfather to stay in the United States rather than moving back to the Philippines. A wonderful story about family and family history.

This was a lovely, heart-warming tale. I love stories about family, and this one was definitely special, as it explored the bond between grandfather and granddaughter, something that is very relatable to me. I flew through this. It was quick, with loveable characters. Can highly recommend!

Any Day With You was great middle grade book aimed for middle grade readers that revolved around Kaia and her relation with her great-grandpa and her family. It was about figuring out who you are and insecurities middle child feel with elder sibling who is perfect and liked by everyone, unexpected change that come in life and how to deal with it, anxiety of living with that change, respecting wish of your loved ones and understanding what their wish means to them.

Any Day With You was first person narrative in lovely voice of Kaia that filled my heart with warmth. It was written with easy, simple short sentences, vivid details, and elucidation of Filipino word, culture and mythical creatures.

Any Day With You started with family introduction, Kaia’s big sister going to Philippines to study for summer and then to premed college in New York, her great-grandpa/Tatang (Celestino) returning from his trip to Hawaii and Kaia excited to spend her summer with Tatang, just two of them, before he went on trip again to Philippines and meet Lainey there until their return. But Tatang had his own plans. He didn’t want to return from his trip to Philippines, he wanted to spend rest of his life there. When he broke this news, Kaia couldn’t accept it. She wanted to change his mind by doing something special, giving him reason to stay, to show him she needs him and that opportunity came when Film Festival contest was announced at Camp Art Attack – summer program she attended with her best friends. I was curious to know what film they were going to shoot and if she can convince her Tatang to stay or if she will be able to understand and support his decision.

This book had interesting and beautiful characters. Family dynamic was great and I just adored Kaia’s friends. All characters’ introduction, their characteristics, their relation with each other and support they showed to Kaia was lovely to read. It was amazing to read three generation living in one home with so much love.

Tatang was 90 years old, Filipino -American WWII veteran and was living in Los Angeles for many years. I liked this energetic man, filled with wisdom, kindness and patience. He handled Kaia’s outburst and anger nicely and went on their summer adventure and taught Kaia to always do right things. All his stories were fascinating. His guest lecture at university was most moving that changed Kaia’s perspective and was turning point in her development.

Kaia was relatable, realistic, lovable 12 year old middle grade student. Her artistic personality shone through the pages. I loved her passion and determination. I could understand her feelings. It was natural and normal to feel insecure as middle child when all relatives boasted about her sister- Lainey’s achievements and expected her to do something as big as her. I loved the way she talked it out to her parents and Tatang. Even after her insecurities, she never disliked Lainey, in fact loved her, shared her feeling and took advice from her. I was happy when she understood her uniqueness and felt she could use her talent in doing something big and special for Tatang. Film making turned out life changing experience for her and she learned many things during her summer time with Tatang. Her development by the end of the book was great.

Best thing in the book was Kaia and Tatang’s connection and love for each other and for family. Book was filled with Filipino culture, myths, superstitions, and Asian-Amercian history. I didn’t know Filipinos were first Asian group to immigrate in America and their life after immigration. Mythical story of Bakunawa was my favorite one. There were many good messages and learning points in the story.

Climax was interesting with bad news that shattered Kaia’s hope and saddened her spirit but I loved the way she came to terms with it. The see off gift she thought for Tatang was exceptional. I loved how it made my heart swell when she gave it to Tatang. There was another surprise at the end and what a beautiful surprise it was!

Overall, Any Day With You was heartwarming, charming, lovely, and a perfect middle grade story with multigenerational Filipino family and culture.

I love how middle-grade novels never fail to fill my heart with warmth. I'm so glad I got to read Any Day With You, because inspite of being a book for young people, it deals with certain incidents that all of us can learn from.

I've not read a lot of books from Asian Literature, so I was really looking forward to reading this book, being from Asia myself. Any Day With You showcased a truly beautiful side of Asian culture and how family is such a huge part of our lives. I loved reading about Kaia's family. The relationship that she shared with her family members, specially with her Tatang (her great-grandfather) made the book such a happy read for me. It was fascinating to read about the Filipino culture and customs too. 💜

Kaia was a really lovable main character. I loved how confident she was and how she chose to work hard for expressing her talent. Kaia's best friends, Abby and Trey added their own charms to the story too. The friendship that they shared was so adorable! Their combined determination to win the film-making contest, inspite of being just seventh graders was really inspiring.

Sometimes you've to be apart from people you truly love to be close to them even more , and this book reflected this aspect perfectly.

These are some of my favorite quotes from the book :

1) " 🌻 But you know it doesn't matter how we spend our time together. I love any day with you. "
2) " 🌻 We carry a place with us ~ I think that means your roots stay planted somewhere deep inside you no matter where you live. "
3) " 🌻 No matter where we are, we all exist under the same sky. Even when we're apart, we're still with each other. "
4) " 🌻 Sometimes things get hard - but they won't always be that way. "
5) " 🌻 Like the ocean, the sun never stops. It slips away, but it always comes up again and is something we can forever count on. "
6) " 🌻 Sometimes life shifts, and even though we don't have an explanation for why, we have to go with the flow and find ways to accept it. "
7) " 🌻 A rainbow is often seen when the sun shines just after it has rained. When things get hard, they always get better. We'll try again. "
8) " 🌻 I see sunshine everywhere I turn. "
If you want a fluffy and happy read, do pick this book up!

Really adored the themes discussed in this one. It's rare to come across such heart touching feel good themes along with diversity and cultural representation in a book. Would actually recommend it to all!

This is such a heart-warming story of love and family! I love the way that Kaia's great-grandfather is such an integral part of their family and Kaia will do anything to convince him to continue living with them. She can not imagine even one day without him but is she being selfish? Don't miss this one!

Thank you PRH International for the galley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Close your eyes and imagine the most comforting memory you had. The emotion that you are feeking is exactly what Any Day With You is. This novel is filled with so much love. Any Day With You reminds us where, or should I rather say who, our home is.

The story is about Kaia, a young Filipino-American girl who grew up in California. She and her family lived near the beach together with some relatives. When her great grandfather, Tatang, announced that he would move back to live in the Philippines permanently, Kaia thought that making her great grandfather proud by winning the short movie contest would convince him not to go.

I don't know why, but this novel made me so emotional. The plot is simple yet hit me right on the feels. I was not able to meet any of my grandparents. Kaia and Tatang's relationship is so special for me since I would never have that kind of experience. Having someone as full of life like Tatang guiding and telling stories while growing up would surely feel good. That's why I could understand Kaia's conflicting feelings when she heard about Tatang's news. Readers especially younger ones can relate and learn a lot from this story.

I like how this novel highlighted the importance of family. It also gave a nod to Filipino values and culture. I could totally relate to every 'pamahiin' mentioned since we also practiced them at home. Lastly, this showed the sacrifices and hard decisions parents had to make, even when they had to leave their own country for some strange land full of opportunities, just so their children could have comfortable lives.

I adore all the characters. Each showed different kindness. Trey and Abby, Kaia's friends, are very supportive and good friends. Lainey, Kaia's older sister, gave her advice that showed how much she loved his younger sister. Tatang was full of wisdom and made friends whenever wherever he went. I really enjoyed the dynamics of these characters.

Overall, Any Day With You is such a heartwarming novel that teaches reader to live every moment, here and now. I highly recommend this book!

5/5 stars!

Creative Kaia's relationship with her grandfather is relatable to many children, as is her love of magical creatures. Young readers will empathize with Kaia as she tries to keep her grandfather with her and figures out how she truely feels about her big sister with lofty ambitions of becoming a doctor. With filipino heritage naturally through out this story it is a diverse read that is authentic.