A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Best Book of the Year
Ignacio "Iggy" Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.
Call me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately--as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election--his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love,
Call me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like
Displacement and
The Magic Fish.
Aguirre, Jorge: - Jorge Aguirre is an author and two-time Emmy-nominated animation writer. He co-created and wrote the graphic novel series, The CHRONICLES OF CLAUDETTE. The New York Times called the first book in the series, GIANTS BEWARE, a "Rollicking fun story." It also received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and was a nominee for a Texas Bluebonnet Award. He wrote the book, CALL ME IGGY and the graphic novel series, MONSTER LOCKER, with art by Andrés Vera Martínez. His animation work includes co-creating Disney Junior's GOLDIE & BEAR. He's the Head Writer and Co-EP for the PBS Kids/Fred Rogers Production show ALMA'S WAY. A Colombian-American born and raised in Columbus, Ohio, Jorge calls the great state of New Jersey home.
Rosado, Rafael: -
Born in Puerto Rico and based in Columbus, Ohio, Rafael Rosado is a seasoned writer, director and storyboard artist for the animation industry. He began his career at Character Builders in Columbus, Ohio as an assistant animator. He quickly worked his way up to become a character designer, storyboard artist and commercial director. During his tenure there he worked on such shows as Fox's Emmy Award-winning Life With Louie, HBO's Happily Ever After and Fox's Where in The World Is Carmen San Diego.
After leaving Character Builders in 1994, Rafael went to work for Warner Brothers Animation, storyboarding on Pinky and The Brain and Emmy nominated Animaniacs, for which he also wrote two episodes.
He was then recruited by the newly-founded Sony Television Animation division, where he worked on eleven shows including directing episodes of CBS's Project GeeKeR and NBC's Sammy. He was promoted to Supervising Director on Extreme Ghostbusters and Producer on Men In Black: The Animated Series.
After 5 years honing his skills in Los Angeles, Rafael moved back to Ohio to raise his family. He is now one of the most highly sought-after storyboard artists, working for major studios such as Warner Brothers, The Walt Disney Company, Sony, Universal and the Cartoon Network. Highly diverse, he has storyboarded on action, comedy and pre-school shows, shows as diverse as Boondocks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Batman, The Venture Brothers and Curious George.
Rafael's first graphic novel, Giants Beware!, was published by First Second Books in early 2012. His short film The Tortured Clown was acquired by and featured on the Sundance Channel.
