I just love it. Una novela gráfica que no estaba en mis planes de lectura, pero que agradezco haberla leído. Amé la historia. Thank you, NetGalley, Lerner Publishing Group, and Canizales, for the ARC.

Very quick read about a very serious topic. Guns, killing, death of a baby, and the inhumane treatment of indigenous people told through the eyes of a young woman. I read this in one sitting and was mesmerized by the storytelling.

I received an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Huge thank you to both the publishing company, Lerner Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a copy.
This book is very impactful, beautifully illustrated and incredibly moving. What an incredibly sad but eye-opening story about the indigenous people's of Colombia and their struggle for basic rights. I hope that this graphic novel can truly succeed and help spread awareness.

I do want to mention that the font is personally not something I am fond of. It feels in some spaces oddly placed overtop of the artwork. Hoever, the illustrations are gorgeous and the story was easy to follow and good for the Teen & YA age group as stated. I agree with the other reviewer. I would love to see this book in schools.

Wow....this book is a must-read as it shows the heartbreaking reality of displacement, racism, deforestation, loss, SA, and the like (triggering warnings) that shows the evils of greed (gold mining/profit) and how it affects so many people, especially, in this case, the Indigenous Colombian people who live there (as well as the natural world of the Amazonian rainforest). This book should be taught in schools to showcase Indigenous resilience, the importance of saving our planet, and so much more. I know I'll be buying myself a copy.

Thank you, NetGalley, Lerner Publishing Group, and Canizales, for the ARC for my honest review.

I just reviewed Amazona by Canizales. #Amazona #NetGalley

It is time for voices like these to be lifted and displayed. The art style and voice here is outstanding and gives the reader understanding and emotional reactions.

The artwork in this graphic novel is stunning. Most of it is in black in white, with flashes of red for objects of important significance. It tells the story of an Indigenous woman whose family was run out of their home in the Amazon by illegal miners. Their large family now lives many miles away in a ramshackle, tiny house in a large city. She returns to her family's sacred land to gather evidence against the miners, in hopes to get their land back.

The story along with the author's note at then end educates readers about Indigenous displacement in the Amazons. An important read.

A poignant graphic novel about the displacement of indigenous peoples in Colombia. Although short, this story is compelling and sheds light on a very real issue that isn't getting much attention in mainstream American media. A good choice for teens and young adults.

This book was amazing. I really liked the unique drawing style, but more importantly it tells a powerful story about a young Indigenous Colombian woman who was forcibly removed from her home and trying to return. Indigenous voices tend to be overlooked and dismissed, so this book offers a powerful counterstory (to borrow a term from Critical Race Theory) about how colonization is still alive and well, but so are Indigenous people, and they deserve justice. A truly powerful, powerful story. To offer a content warning: It was intense and heavy, and did have scenes involving child death and sexual assault.

I was gifted an ebook copy of this graphic novel from Netgalley and the publisher. I enjoyed the aspect of learning about the indigenous people of Columbia and the struggles and trials that these people face in their lives being relocated to a new city and their land taken from them. The only reason I'm giving this book 2 stars is because I thought it was geared more toward middle grade age, and it did not need the few swear words and explicit scene to be a good book. I would not recommend this book to younger children for that reason alone.

Trigger warning: Book contains rape attempts.
"We're people whose land has been taken from us."

Modern-day pop culture references, like IKEA, illustrate displacement, invoking empathy and compassion.

Conservative audiences won't appreciate the story, deeming it "too political". They'll say it's what's wrong with this country and spend the whole time hating it. I know, because I have family that thinks like this. I can't fathom how or why they would think this way, given their attempts to prove their quantum cards worthy of benefits. That is what's wrong with this country: indigenous culture is only accepted by the white masses when they can benefit personally.

On the other side of my family is adoption. Digging deeper, though, and the way I was raised to appreciate the earth supports my heritage. It baffles me how my family is literally split in two, regardless of my parents' separation when I was younger.

I think that's why Amazona means something to me. I connect with the story, in addition to empathizing with it.

Despite the trigger warning, I do think this a book people should read. I think it is a great book for teens to read and discuss, but would also be great for adults.

My only concern for this book is whether the typography will be too small for people without perfect vision to read. I'm giving it 5 stars regardless, however, because that is more a publishing thing, and the book deserves a chance not to be dismissed just because of this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Book for providing the ARC of Amazona!

Amazona features a striking and different voice of a person who lives in displacement from their indigenous home. I loved the imagery of this graphic novel. Only using shades of greys, blacks, and reds, the author really set the mood in each scene. Every part was striking and moving in my eyes.

My eyes have been opened. Such a heartbreaking story. I had no idea these things happened in Colombia.

This was the first book/graphic novel I read from Netgalley, and it is one of the better graphic novels that cover heavier themes I have seen. The art style is beautiful and I loved the use of color. Will be looking out for more from this author. I wish I tried the spanish edition but I thought the translation was pretty well done.

A raw story of the destruction of the rain forest and the displacement of so many people whose lives are intertwined with every root in that soil. This being a current occurrence of the today's world, it resonated a different way when I was reading.

The protagonist returns to bury her infant back in the ancestral ground and also to gather information to aid her and her people in getting back what is rightfully theirs. I would definitely recommend reading this.


Thank you NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for giving me the opportunity to read this.
#Amazona #NetGalley

"Amazona" is a graphic novel about Andrea, a young Indigenous Colombian woman, that wants to bury her infant daughter in the land that was stolen from her people.

It's a very interesting read and a story that needs to be told. Even if this is a fictional story, it's the reality for a lot of people. I liked that at the end of the book there are resources to learn more about the situation.

Since it's a graphic novel, the art it's a key part and that's the strongest point of the book. The illustrations are incredible, full of raw emotion -especially the ones in the black background-. There are a few touches in red that help to enforce the meaning of the story. I'm not super thrilled about the text placement in some pages but the overall feeling that each page transmitted was very good.

Regarding the story, there is the main storyline with Andrea and a small one with another character. Even if there is a spiritual animal leading Andrea, this is a very realistic plot and depicts the strong relationship of the tribes to their land. I wish I could have connected more with the story but the pacing didn't give me time to digest everything as I would like.

It's a good book to start the conversation about environmental justice and indigenous rights. So it's nice to see this kind of story being published.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an eARC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

This is a powerful and intensely thought-provoking graphic novel about an indigenous woman who is forced to flee her home, and yet who bravely returns to do the unthinkable: bury her child and find evidence needed to reclaim her people’s land.

I highly recommend this, but know that there are heavy topics discussed that may be triggering for some people.

Amazona is engaging and incredibly powerful. An important look at a terrible issue. Both heartbreaking and empowering.

AMAZONA- a graphic novel, by Canizales
Review by Kevin McCloskey 1/23/22

Translation to English by Sofía Huitrón Martínez
U.S edition, Graphic Universe, Lerner, pub date: April, 2022

The graphic novel Amazona, like Disney’s animated musical Encanto, takes place in Colombia. Two stories of refugee families forced off their land by violence could not be more different. Encanto‘s giddy Madrigal family sings about their refuge calling it a ‘casita,’ or little house. Their house is more like a casona, a mansion, so saturated in Disney-color the rainbow seems redundant.

On the other hand, Amazona is a starkly drawn graphic novel. It is mostly black graphite pencil on rough white paper. Ink washes and spots of color are used sparingly to reflect a very different take on the refugee experience.
On the other hand, Amazona is a starkly drawn graphic novel. It is mostly black graphite pencil on rough white paper. Ink washes and spots of color are used sparingly to reflect a very different take on the refugee experience.

The artist Canizales was born in Cali, Colombia. In his story an indigenous refugee family is relocated to a dilapidated casita in a Cali slum. Andrea, the young heroine, describes her new surroundings: “In the place where we live now, and forgive me if I don’t call it home, you’ll find: my sisters and brothers . . .My cousins and aunts and uncles . . .My neighbors, grandmothers, and grandfathers . . .And boys and girls who lost their own families. A total of thirty-eight people sharing a 600-square-foot space. The place is divided into two rooms with no windows, a bathroom with no door, a kitchen, and a patio.“

Canizales now lives in Majorca, Spain where he is a professor of illustration and an award-winning author/illustrator. Most of his artistic output consists of early reader picture books and bright bubbly board books. While his board books would not look out of place in a Disney store, Amazona is clearly a passion project. It is fiction, but based on real people and places. Canizales pledges a portion of the book’s profit to aid indigenous people via Resguardo Indígena Nasa de Cerro Tijeras.

The storytelling has tremendous momentum. I intended to simply glance at the review pdf that came my way, but I read it in one sitting. Canizales’s tale is an important story, not a pretty one. There is racism and violence, including an attempted rape. While the vocabulary is deceptively simple, Amazona is not a children’s book. It is a graphic novella for adults, including mature young adults.

I admit there were plot twists in Amazona that I found hard to believe. – Latin American magic realism? However, Amazona undoubtedly delivers more insight to the Colombian refugee crisis than Encanto. Hundreds of talented artists, writers and colorists are credited at the end of Encanto. Don’t get me wrong, Encanto is a great entertainment product and I appreciate full employment for artists, but it is not food for thought. Encanto was never intended to build empathy with the poorest of poor.

In contrast, one artist, Canizales, born in Cali, Colombia, created Amazona. Sure, he had editors, art directors, and in the case of the U.S. edition, a wonderful translator. Yet, Amazona is basically the act of a single focused imagination, a single hand. Amazona is an extraordinary achievement, worth the journey.

A beautiful book, very artistic and week-crafted. Definitely one to share with readers young and old.

An exciting, suspenseful thriller about environmental justice and indigenous rights. Feels much longer and more involved than its short length implies. The art style is unique, detailed, and just fascinating. It's really beautiful and very kinetic; I could imagine everything in movement. It would translate well to film!