Sibling relationships can be tough—even sticky.
Claudia loves her little sister, Monica. After all, it’s fun to always have someone to play with. But sometimes Monica sticks to her like glue, trailing after Claudia and her friends and inserting herself into their games. When Claudia is invited to a fútbol tournament, Monica begs to come along. Claudia knows her sister will be crushed if she’s not included, but she longs for an activity that’s just her own. Claudia considers her options—pleading, bribing, even warning her sister about a scary monster. Nothing works. At last, Claudia turns to the hardest strategy of all: honesty. She explains that she simply wants to play with her friends on her own. To her surprise, Monica understands and agrees not to go. The sisters seal their new understanding by chewing some bubble gum, leading to a hilarious and literally sticky situation. Readers who have weathered both loving and exasperating sibling relationships will see themselves in this heartfelt story. The push and pull between the sisters feels authentic even as Siqueira maintains a playful, humorous tone, matched by de Castro’s exaggerated cartoon artwork. Spanish vocabulary is seamlessly woven throughout, and Claudia’s family members are brown-skinned and cued Latine.
A funny and tender celebration of sisterhood, honesty, and finding space while staying close.
—Kirkus Reviews
Claudia has a “sticky” little sister, Monica, who is attached to Claudia like a wad of bright pink bubblegum. This is fine when they play together, but Claudia begins to feel a frustration that builds into gritted teeth anger at her sister’s constant presence. Her breaking point comes when their mother calls Claudia’s soccer coach to ask if Monica can attend her tournament as the “cheerleader.” Determined to stop her, Claudia begins brainstorming various plans to get Monica to back out, but begging wouldn’t work (“Monica is better at that”), and crying won’t work since her sister “cries louder and longer.” Finally, after a misguided attempt at scaring Monica out of coming, Claudia confesses that she wants to go to her tournament with just her friends, and Monica surprisingly agrees, instead electing to go to the beach with their cousins. The sisters make up by blowing bubblegum balloons so large they pop and get enmeshed in both girls’ hair. As the two brown-skinned, brown-haired siblings move through their days, their exaggerated expressions telegraph joy, despair, and frustration to great comedic effect while the bubble gum motif appears throughout scenes dominated by a cheery palette of pinks in all shades. In an author’s note, Siquiera describes her Brazilian heritage and being part of a multicultural Cuban and Brazilian family, which may explain some more regionally distinct terms that are slightly different from Cuban Spanish (figuritas meaning trading cards instead of action figures, pis meaning pee). Both versions are easy, humorous reads, perfect for kids having a difficult time separating from their family, and the story ends on a loving final image: sisters finally separated in their own locations but still looking toward each other with love—and with matching shaved spots on their heads.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
