A novel-in-verse, that weaves an immigrant story together with Philippine mythology. Two sisters get a story from their mother that they don't know is actually about her.

Beautiful story in verse. Elsie shares not only her story of her life coming to America, but let's us in on the new story of her own daughters, and how both these stories reflect the tales of their Phillipino heritage. I have no previous knowledge of these stories, but the author does a beautiful job of sharing them. There is so much emotion in this book, and told so eloquently. A quick read but well worth taking it slowly.

Books in verse are really popular at my school. I love that this mixes a story of an immigrant from the Philippines with that of Mayan mythology.

Novel in verse dovetails a mother's Filipina childhood with myths of her homeland, and in this way, she imparts to her daughters, the story of her immigration and her experience as a refugee in the United States, It was a pleasure to see Tagalog incorporated into the pages! Perfect for all Filipino American children, anyone who loves mythology from around the world, and all who study the immigrant experience. Perfect for home, school, and public libraries. Thanks to Penguin Young Readers/ Dial, and #WeBelong #Netgalley

Who doesn't love a novel in verse for reluctant readers? This story would go great in the hands of kids, ages 10+ who love fantasy!

Half-Filipino, half-white, Stella and Luna request a bedtime story from their mom, Elsie. Their mother tells the myth of Mayari and how she transitioned into living in heaven among the gods. Told in verse in English and Tagalog, the story switches between Elsie’s childhood, the myth, and moving/adjusting to living in the United States. How will Elsie adjust to her new life? The verse works well for telling the story. The plot is interesting and realistically portrays the struggles of trying to fit in and adjust to living in two different cultural worlds. Readers who enjoy novels told in their own voice, realistic fiction, magical realism, and multi-generational stories will enjoy reading this book. 4 stars, Grades 7 to 9

I felt like this story could use another round of editing. I liked the stories of Phillipine Mythology but the presentation was confusing to me as an adult. I think this might be a miss for a lot of kids.

I have to admit I was a little disappointed with the format as it downloaded in the kindle app. It was tough to read the lines and the pictures were very difficult to make out. I’m sure with a better format it will feel much more cohesive. The story itself is wonderful.

I typically enjoy novels in verse and know that many of my students do as well. This one just did not hit the spot for me. I didn't like how it was written in verse and told from two different timelines as well. At times, it felt confusing and I think my students would have a hard time following it.

I received this book as a free digital ARC from the SLJ Middle Grade Magic virtual conference. All of the thoughts expressed in this review are honest and my own.

The first half of this book was very confusing to me. The story is written in verse and is told from the perspective of a mother as she tells stories to her children at bedtime. The stories are a mash-up of Philippine mythology and her own life story. To me, the stories of Philippine mythology and the mother's story of how she immigrated to America as a child were both compelling stories separately, but when mixed together became confusing to the point that the story felt less meaningful to me.

Also as someone with no experience with Philippine culture, it was difficult for me to understand and relate to the many references and words given in Tagalong. There is a glossary in the back matter of the book, but with so many terms I would constantly be flipping to the back to find meaning for the words. I love reading and learning about other cultures, but typically the books I read that mix English with other languages provide meaning for the new words within the text rather than just having a separate glossary.

From the perspective of a school librarian, I could see this book having a profound impact on my Philippine students who can relate more closely to the mythology and language. I would love to share this with them to see if they can provide more insight and teach me something. I love when I can learn from my students and this would be a great opportunity to do so.

A beautiful tale told in verse. Layers of stories to make one big story of Filipino mythology and family. A great way for students to learn about other cultures.

We Belong is a book that I would like to try again once I have the print version. The pages felt off on my kindle and it was confusing. The writing seemed beautiful but it was hard to follow which perspective was narrating and I had to force myself to keep reading.

We Belong is a novel in verse that intertwines Pilipino mythology with a family’s personal story of immigration to the United States. The tales are relayed to Elsie’s young daughters, Stella and Luna, in the form of bedtime stories. As the stories unfold, parallels between the experiences of Mayari, the Tagalog moon goddess, and her siblings who are forced to choose between life on Earth or in Heaven after the death of their father, the God Creator, and Elsie’s, whose family left the Phillipines for the United States during Ferdinand Marcos’s presidency, are evident. Both Mayari and Elsie struggle to leave behind their old lives and adjust to their new worlds. The contrasting text colors, black for the personal story and a lighter font for the mythology, are an effective tool as the story alternates between the characters. A glossary at the end of the book helps to support readers’ understanding of the terms used in the text. Readers who have experienced feeling like they do not belong will relate to this story told by an own voices author.

This beautiful novel told in verse weaves together two tales: one of a young girl who left the Philippines with her family and the other the myths of her home. I loved the two stories, but the eformat I think at times made it difficult to understand which story I was reading. Sometimes parts of pictures were on one page and the stories seemed jumbled into one another. However, I love that the mother is telling her daughter stories at bedtime, especially when she weaves in the myths from their culture and personal experiences traveling away from the Philippines with her family. I just feel as if this novel is much more than originally meets the eye. It's absolutely a beautiful story. I'll be purchasing a copy once it officially comes out.
Thank you to the publisher for an ARC via Middle Grade Magic Conference.

With thanks to NetGalley and PENGUIN GROUP Penguin Young Readers Group for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I've been reading more novels in verse recently and loving this format...definitely want to continue the trend of reading more!

It took me a couple chapters in the book to really separate in my mind the present day characters, the mom's experience growing up, and the story of the gods and goddesses, but once I got them sorted, their stories all flowed beautifully, I appreciated the glossary at the back of the book with gods and goddesses from Tagalog mythology.

I love when I can read a book and know just who to recommend it to (I already emailed his mom with the info!) so I'm excited to share this with students.

I love the concept of this. I love the use of Philippine mythology, but the story is so difficult to follow. Something about the format just seems like it might be hard for it's target demographic to follow. This could just be formatting issues with the eARC that I was reading though. I will say that this is one author I will keep an eye on.

This book just oozes love, it's beautiful. It's told in different timelines and storylines, and ends up being so much more than the sum of its part. The book is about a mother telling her daughters bedtime stories and that feeling, the love, the safety, the comfort, was really conveyed in the book. Being Filipino, she's interweaving Tagalog mythology and her personal experiences as an immigrant in her stories to her daughters, and it was just beautifully done.

I love novels told through verse so I knew I would enjoy We Belong. This book tells two tales, the story of a young girl who left the Philippines as a child with her family and the story of a mythical daughter of a god. I think the poor formatting of the earc I read led to some confusion as to which story was being told at times as there wasn't always a clear divide but once I was more familiar with the characters I was able to work this out myself and both stories were beautiful. I loved learning about Philippine mythology alongside Elsie's daughter as she interweaved the story with tales from her own childhood. A beautiful novel about family, love and strength.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC of this one.

This was book takes readers through Philipino mythology. I liked the use of colored ink, and the use of verse. Overall, though, I wasn't wowed by the story or characters.

I received an eARC from NetGalley for review.

This is a middle grade book with a focus on Filipino myths tied into a modern family, with their story of immigration and growing up with their Filipino roots. It has a very poetic, fantasy type feel to it.

I really enjoyed this book. The very poetic writing format was unexpected at first, but once I got rolling with it, I thought it was really well done. At times, I did get slightly confused as they went from story line to story line, but that MIGHT be partly due to formatting of the eARC. There is a strong family story line here, turning the myth of the Sun, Moon and Star gods into a family connection over several generations, ending with a Filipina immigrant telling the story to her own daughters. It references different parenting techniques, primarily focused on the maternal side, and you could say there is an element of healing from a mother who wasn't what you wanted her to be. The ending was absolutely beautiful and soul stirring, and this would be a wonderful book to read with daughters in particular, but it's not overly 'gendered' either.

There is a great glossary at the end of the book that includes pronunciation of the Tagalong words as well. I really enjoyed that, so I could better understand and learn more about the language and culture featured in the book.

This is a very quick read, but I think it's worth sharing over a large range of ages, because of the representation involved.