Pardalita

Written by Joana Estrela

Narrated by Irene Vazquez

16-year-old Raquel lives in a small town in Portugal, the kind of place where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Her parents are divorced, and she’s just been suspended for cursing out a school aide. She has two best friends, Luísa and Fred, but wants something more.


Then, from afar, she sees Pardalita, a senior and a gifted artist who’s moving to Lisbon to study in the fall. The two girls get to know each other while working on a play. And Raquel … falls in love.

From author/artist Joana Estrela comes Pardalita, a beautiful slice-of-life story that is This One Summer meets Ursula K. Le Guin’s Very Far Away from Anywhere Else. Told in a gorgeous blend of prose poems, Estrela captures the feeling of being 16 in a way that feels gentle, joyful, and real.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Translator: Lyn Miller-Lachmann
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889561583

Joana Estrela

Joana Estrela is a Portuguese author and illustrator with a degree in communication design from the Faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Porto. Her picture books and graphic novels for young people have been translated into several languages. In 2016 her book Mana won the first SERPA International Award for Picture Books. Joana lives in Brussels.