*reviewed from uncorrected egalley via Netgalley *

teen graphic fiction - Colombian-American 9th grader in Columbus, Ohio gets love advice from the ghost of his abuelo. (Author is Colombian-American and illustrator is Puerto-Rican).

Cute teen rom-com set against the serious backdrop of the 2016 election. A quick read with lots of humor and relatable characters. More, please!

Set during the 2016 election era, this GN sends sends a message about the impact of racism, deportation and the right to be who you are, live how you choose. Iggy, the MC, grew a lot throughout the book, even with an older brother who has completely different views than him. Iggy, with the help of his ghost Abuelit0, he learns to both love and appreciate his Columbian heritage. Lots of sensitive topics throughout the story. Thanks Netgalley for the e-arc!

I did like this graphic novel. I liked its themes of reconnecting with your heritage. The romance was also quite cute, and I liked our main character. However, I do think that it is a bit too surface level with its messaging at times, and the focus on the 2016 election within this makes it feel extremely outdated already.

I know this was a good book because I finished with a smile on my face. I loved the story of Iggy and his grandfather and how he comes to own his identity. His parents made difficult decisions when they were young and Iggy is getting old enough to understand. His relationships with his friends and family were also well drawn and sweet. The illustrations were perfect for the story. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this graphic novel

This is a great book especially for younger middle school to high school aged kids. It allows you to step into someone else's shoes and see things from another perspective. As everyone's family comes from different parts of the world and are raised differently even if you are from similar backgrounds. I love the character development of Iggy as he grows and learns more about his roots. It also touches on some deep topics and kind of shows how different people even of simmer backgrounds can see these topics in different lights. The Art in this book is also very well drawn.

First I would like to thank First Second Books for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the story of Iggy, Ohio-born Colombian American high school student, who is struggling with adjusting to high school. While in the basement looking for something for school he accidently breaks his grandfather's urn and his grandfather's spirit appears and starts interacting with Iggy. When Iggy starts struggling with school, specifically Spanish class, he asks his grandfather's spirit to tutor him and while it works out great at first his grandfather's lack of education starts hurting Iggy instead of helping. Iggy decides to ask Marisol to tutor him instead and she agrees in exchange for Iggy helping out at her job. While being tutored by Marisol, Iggy learns the struggle of other people and realizes how good he's always had it.

What I loved:
Iggy's abuelito, he has a lot to teach Iggy that is helpful (like Spanish) but he also give some of the worst advice when it comes to love and relationships
Family, throughout the book Iggy learns about his father and grandfather's relationship and confronts his father about the falling out which really helps Iggy's whole family come together and heal
Political environment, this book did a great job showing how even people who the Trump campaign marked as "other" ended up falling for the false narrative like Iggy's brother who is a minority but supporting him cause of his personality
Marisol, I enjoyed that they brought forth a character who is struggling to get their legal documentation as not a lot of people have a chance to see or experience that struggle and understand how hard it is and how much these people want to do it the right way

Overall I think this is a great book that does a great job depicting the life of an American born Colombian who has to deal with racism and othering on the daily but can still rise about it and be proud of who they are and where they came from. Anyone who is struggling with understanding the life of a minority should give this book a read.

Call Me Iggy follows Ignacio, a Colombian American attempting to improve his Spanish, leading him to learn about himself and his family. He gets help from Marisol and his deceased grandfather (grandpa). Call Me Iggy conveys a powerful message concerning immigrants' struggles and fears, particularly in 2016, although the political climate remains as it is. This heartfelt graphic novel has friendship, hardships, relationships, humor, culture, and family ties.

I thought this was a decent story and I did like the learning about appreciating your culture and family moments. However, I felt like the political aspect could’ve been handle better because it brought up some old feelings for me since the election happened when I was in high school. Overall, it was nice story but I feel like it could’ve been a little bit more tasteful when it came to discussing the political issues.

"America wastes its resources taking care of the rest of the world"

Call Me Iggy tells the story of an Ohio-born Colombian American teen struggling to reconcile his cultural heritage while trying to fit in. Full of first crushes, family drama, ghostly ancestors, and a biting social commentary, this novel is perfect for any first generation American or those of mixed heritage who are exploring their own identity and why family history and culture are important. It opens conversation on how politics affects those of any age and how we can be more cognizant of our impact. I will admit this took a while to get into but I very much enjoyed the story and the messages presented in this beautifully illustrated graphic novel.

It was a feel good story. It was sweet how Iggy found his way through history, made friends and understood his family more. I was too short. I wish I can read more about Iggy in the future. The book talks about culture, family and friends in a sublime way.

Call Me Iggy is a fantastic graphic novel featuring a Columbian American teen named Iggy. Iggy must navigate school, family friends and first love all while witnessing the Trump's first run for president. This is a must have diverse graphic novel. Add this to your YA collection!

Set in 2016, Trump Vs Hilary, 'Gringo' Iggy gets in touch with his past after a little accident in his basement brings the ghost of this grandfather to him.

Honestly, Iggy's character arc is this was good to see, as he was quite two dimensional to begin with, but his personality definitely grew on me.

The graphics are gorgeous!

A graphic novel on family, new beginnings, and understanding of immigrations. Iggy initially started taking Spanish class for a girl he had a crush on, but he ended up finding a part of himself he never knew he had. Discovering his abuelito’s ashes, he was able to connect to his abuelito’s ghost and learned Spanish through him. Not only did Iggy learn a new language, he learned what grudge his abuelito had on his father, which resulted in him finding out that all he ever wanted was his father to return to Columbia and spread his ashes on the orchard gardens, to return to his first home. Even though Iggy was raised Americanized with hardly any knowledge of Spanish or his heritage, he still connected with his ancestors and grown to love that part of himself.

I find this book quite beautiful because honestly being the next generation in America, it’s hard to teach children where they came from when you start living in a country different from your ethnicity for a long time. You start to assimilate into the new country’s way of living and you grow used to that lifestyle. It’s not that you abandon your heritage, but it is just a different way of life that naturally happens.

Thank you to NetGallery for providing me an advanced digital copy for review.

Ignacio (Iggy) Garcia was born in Ohio but is a Colombian American living in the United States. He is starting his freshman year and is accidentally put into Spanish instead of French. What starts out as a fun story about Iggy just being a normal teenager turns into Iggy really coming into his own learning about his passed family members and navigating his own feelings about America, politics and his family dynamic. After an accident in the basement Iggy unleashes his grandfathers ghost and his grandfather decides to stick around to learn about Iggy and to help him with his love life.

I really loved that this story told a dynamic of different characters and families and how the 2016 election affected them.

From Marisol’s family who is there but could at anytime be sent away. To seeing their family dynamic and how well they are all together.

From Iggys one brother and family dynamic that isn’t the best.

I loved the illustrations and how great the art work was to the story:

I highly highly recommend this book to everyone but especially Latino people because it’s so nice to see representation in novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author Jorge for letting me read this book in exchange for an honest review. Very well written graphic novel.

I read this in 2023 and enjoyed it.

Congratulations to the author and thanks to the publisher for the copy!

This was an excellent graphic novel about culture, family, and the complicated issues happening in our society. There are also a lot of typical teen issues that a variety of readers can relate to: starting high school, crushes, grades, sibling rivalry, parental misunderstandings, etc.

It's a pretty politically charged story, with lots of references to the 2016 election and the aftermath. Iggy's family represents a spectrum of political beliefs, and it causes several tense moments. Iggy is left angry, confused, and worried--but he's also trying to focus on surviving high school. Oh...and trying not to let people know he can see and talk to his dead grandfather.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second publishing for the ARC. I loved this book. Iggy is Colombian and his only worry is impressing the girl in his Spanish class. Marisol is a student in his grade who lives with the worry of being deported. Trump is running for president and wants to build the wall. Iggy forms a friendship with Marisol and her family and begins to see that things that did not matter in life, now do. Enjoyed this story so much.

Welcome Back!

I have been a busy audiobook reader this week. I have finished two audiobooks so far and I am a decent way into my third one! However, I have not read nearly as many manga or graphic novels yet this week. So I decided it was time to pick up a graphic novel E-ARC I had on Netgalley. I picked up the E-ARC of Call Me Iggy (thank you so much to the publisher for an E-ARC copy in exchange for my honest opinions). So without further ado, let’s jump into Call Me Iggy.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Iggy lives in Ohio with his older brother, mom, and dad. Iggy does not really know a ton about his heritage but he knows his dad was born in Columbia and left to go to school in America and never visited again. All of this changes when Iggy decides to take Spanish in school this year instead of a different language. He begins to learn more about Columbia, his dad, and even his grandfather (who has passed). But what if he learns things that make his relationship with his family complicated? On top of that, Iggy slowly becomes friends with another student who is an illegal immigrant. She is helping him study his Spanish but with the election looming, things may become very complicated for her.

I absolutely loved Iggy’s story. We got to see Iggy transform and learn so much in a short span of his life. We also got to see Iggy endure something many of us went through (the election in America in 2016). Even if you were not in America it was a stressful time for all. We see a special perspective with Iggy and his new friend, and how the election directly impacted their day-to-day lives. Outside of the story I loved the art style. The colors used really highlighted certain elements of the story nicely. Call My Iggy hits shelves in paperback on February 13th, 2024, I highly recommend picking up a copy!

Goodreads Rating: 5 Stars

***Thank you so much to the publisher for the E-ARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

Such a fun read! The premise drew me in: Iggy unintentionally awakens his long dead grandfather. They make a deal: Iggy will bring his grandpa's ashes to an orchid garden, finally at rest, if he will help him win the heart of his crush. On the surface, it's a great rom-com, but what makes CALL ME IGGY stand out is the thoughtful way the author also weaves in a plot-line about Trump's election and its fallout for immigrant communities. SO well done!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy. Publishes Feb. 13, 2024!

I thought the story was wholesome. I enjoyed learning about Iggy and about a different culture than my own. I think the book will be very informative but fun for kids.