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  • Big Apple Diaries by Alyssa Bermudez book cover
  • Big Apple Diaries by Alyssa Bermudez book cover
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Big Apple Diaries

by Alyssa Bermudez

A middle-school diary shaped by a changing city

$16.47 USD
$27.45 USD $16.47 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A middle-school diary shaped by a changing city

Set in New York City in 2000, Alyssa Bermudez’s graphic memoir draws on her middle-school diaries to connect everyday questions of friendship, fashion, crushes, and identity with the upheaval of September 11, 2001. Alyssa, a biracial Puerto Rican girl, is adjusting to life between her parents’ homes in Manhattan and Queens while trying to understand what being Puerto Rican means to her. Diary entries and drawings give the book a personal frame for these experiences, including the support she finds in family and community after tragedy. Its subject matter moves between the familiar concerns of adolescence and a major historical event, showing how the two meet in one young person’s life.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Readers interested in graphic memoirs rooted in childhood and adolescence.
  • Readers curious about Puerto Rican identity and family life in New York City.
  • Readers seeking a young person’s perspective on September 11, 2001, alongside everyday middle-school experiences.

Themes

Identity and belongingFamily and communityFriendship and adolescenceSeptember 11, 2001

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

In Big Apple Diaries, a heartfelt diary-style graphic memoir by Alyssa Bermudez, a young New Yorker doodles her way through middle school--navigating crushes, friendship, fashion, and identity, as well as the world-changing consequences of September 11, 2001.

It's the year 2000 in New York City. For 12-year old Alyssa, a biracial Puerto Rican girl, this means all kinds of new challenges: splitting time between her dad's apartment in Manhattan and her mom's new place in Queens, navigating the ups and downs of middle school, harboring an epic crush on a new classmate, and figuring out how to be a "real" Puerto Rican. The only way to make sense of it all is to write and draw her thoughts and worries into her diary.

But, when a terrible tragedy strikes, Alyssa must find hope and strength within herself.

Fortunately, Alyssa's family and friends are safe, and through the shared love and support of her people and community, Alyssa discovers she can overcome anything... even middle school.

This honest, moving graphic memoir is based on Alyssa Bermudez's own middle school diaries before and after September 11, 2001.

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