COMING SOON

AVAILABLE NOW

Dinner on Domingos

Barefoot Books, 2021

Dinner on Domingos is an ode to Sunday family dinners at my abuelita’s house. It explores the connectivity of food, but it also explores the ways a young girl tries to connect with her abuelita when she doesn’t speak much Spanish.

You can learn more about how to teach Dinner on Domingos in the classroom here.

When I was young, I didn’t know how to speak Spanish, but I longed to connect with my abuelos. Almost every Sunday growing up, I would head to abuelita’s for dinner. Everyone showed up: my tios and tias, primos and primas. It was so much fun, and complete chaos, of course. While I didn’t speak Spanish, those dinners helped connect us all.

But I was 16 when my abuelito passed away, and I felt like I barely knew him: our language barrier had created a rift I wanted to close. I promised myself I would learn Spanish so I could have a better relationship with my abuelita. Her English was fading, and I wanted to know her better. I studied Spanish in high school and college, and then I traveled to Ecuador to work and live with my abuelita’s sister for six months to better understand the language and her country.

Even though abuelita is now 97 years old, can’t hear or see all that well, and lives over 2,000 miles away, I cherish our phone calls and video chats. Her smile still lights up the room and her advice remains true: live your life each and every day to the fullest.