A strong addition to school and public library collections alike. The cover is deceptively simple, and the art within Halway to Somewhere tends to be more vivid and well designed. Pimienta's story features a young girl who has just moved out of her home in Baja California and to Kansas, where she struggles to find others who speak Spanish. Ave also takes time warming up to the community and coming to terms with her parents' separation, so there are multiple points of relatability for young audiences.

Really excellent graphic novel about a non-binary middle school student who moves from Mexicali, Mexico to Lawrence, Kansas and struggles with what it means to Mexican in America. Rather than dealing with the racism, the story focuses on the MC's sense of self, language, and assimilation as they adapt to their new home and make friends with other Mexican Americans who have direct experience of living in Mexico.

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Ave, whose is twelve and nonbinary, and nine-year-old brother Ramón have moved from Mexicali, Mexico to Lawrence, Kansas so that their mother can take a job at Kansas University in the language department. Because of immigration issues, their father and older sister, Cruz, stay behind in Mexico. Ave's English isn't as smooth as they would like, but they are leery of talking to too many people. While Ramón immediately makes friends with Tom across the street, Ave doesn't even want to talk to the son of one of the mother's colleagues because he is Latine but doesn't speak Spanish, which is hard to udnerstand. Instead, Ave likes to walk around the town, go to comics stores, and gets to know the neighborhood, although the mother doesn't much care for this wandering. When school starts, Ave makes some friends who are from various Latine backgrounds, which gives Ave an intersesting perspective on the array of experiences Latin people in the US have. While Ave talks to Cruz frequently, Ave doesn't quite understand that the father will not be coming to the US, nor will Cruz, in part because the parents are separating. Ave spends a lot of time reminiscing about a family hike to Casa de Piedra, and would like to return home and have the family be intact, but by the end of the book realizes that this will not happen.
Strengths: Ave finds connection with friends at school when the other kids realize that they all love running, and it was interesting to see Ave take comfort in this when life was difficult. The discussions about the different backgrounds was interesting, and I'd never really though about how second generation Mexican-American students might feel about kids who are new arrivals. Many children have to deal with parents who are divorcing, but when these parents are left behind in other countries, it becomes an even greater loss. I was glad that Ave was able to video chat with Cruz. This was a thought provoking graphic novel about identity.
Weaknesses: This moved somewhat slowly because of the introspective nature of the plotline.
What I really think: This is a good choice for readers who want to explore a range of Latine experiences and enjoyed books like Fajardo's Miss Quinces, Martin's Mexikid, or Mercado's Chunky, and also had a similar vibe to Cohen's Two Tribes.

Halfway to Somewhere touches on many middle school topics in a format that they love to read. Jose Pimienta's illustrations are beautiful, especially the ones that capture the wondrous desert landscapes. Readers will flock to this new graphic novel and share it with all of their friends.

I thought this was an interesting book! I have read the author's Twin Cities book before, so this was a familiar art style for me. I loved the desert illustrations! It made me see the desert in a different light, especially since it is really hard to capture that beauty. The characters were quite real and complex, just what readers are looking for.

Beautifully illustrated and told, this graphic novel touches on many tough subjects such as moving to a new country, divorce, separation from family members, and finding your school identity. I appreciated the honesty reflected in the parents and classmates. Highly recommend.

Halfway to Somewhere is wonderful, visual and verbal storytelling. I discovered Jose Pimienta’s work a few years ago when he was up for an award, and this book certainly is award-worthy, as well. A graphic novel I would gladly add to my classroom library and share with students and recommend for school libraries, it’s a journey that readers can relate to, and others can learn from.

This is a story that covers divorce and the struggle of telling your kids
what is going on, and they're finding out on their own. It shows how hard it can be on both the kids and parents. Though this story also has the struggles of moving to a different area with communction barriers and how our main character deals with everything that is changing around them.