Drita, My Homegirl

Written by Jenny Lombard

Narrated by Carlotta Brentan and Jeanette Illidge

A poignant story about the difficulties of leaving everything behind and the friendships that help you get through it.

Fleeing war-torn Kosovo, ten-year-old Drita and her family move to America with the dream of living a typical American life. But with this hope comes the struggle to adapt and fit in. How can Drita find her place at school and in her new neighborhood when she doesn't speak any English? Meanwhile, Maxie and her group of fourth-grade friends are popular in their class, and make an effort to ignore Drita. So when their teacher puts Maxie and Drita together for a class project, things get off to a rocky start. But sometimes, when you least expect it, friendship can bloom and overcome even a vast cultural divide.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Sep 13, 2022
• ISBN: 9780593587676

Jenny Lombard

Jenny Lombard lives in New York City.

Reviews for Drita, My Homegirl

[jennybeast · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ok, pluses here (there are a lot): alternating viewpoint between Drita's Albanian refugee family and Maxie's New York African American family, who is about 3 years out from the loss of her mother in a car accident. Does a fabulous job on both viewpoints -- the shock and strangeness of a small New York apartment after the sudden exit from Kosova, the fear and despair that Drita's mom succumbs to, the difficulties of many people in a small space just trying to cope. And then Maxie -- who is having a lot of difficulty in her grief, acting out, getting in fights and mischief and seriously having a hard time with her dad's new girlfriend. Her new friendship (assigned to her by a caring teacher) with Drita ends up steadying her. I love that both families have a caring grandmother who lives with them and takes on a lot of the heavy emotional work that lets the families function. I love that the refugee family is white and Muslim and the welcoming American family is black -- and comes through when Drita's mom hits a crisis in a big way -- they are absolutely the heroes in this story, but it's not presented as a story about race, it's a school story about 4th graders. Also, I really like that Drita is talented at basketball.

Minuses -- I did find it a little slow to get into. It's 135 pages, but I feel like most of the action happens in the last 3rd of the book, so there's a little patience required to engage.

[michelleannlib · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This had potential but the characterization felt very forced. It improved as the story went on, but it was hard to overcome the roughness at the beginning of the story.

[fingerpost_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Drita is a refugee from war-torn Kosovo, newly arrive in New York City. Maxie is a popular girl with a bit of an attitude. In this short book with chapters alternating from first-person Drita to first-person Maxie, these two unlikely girls become the closest of friends. We also spend time with each family. Maxie, who lives with her father and grandmother, her mother having been killed in a car accident a few years prior, and Drita, whose father struggles to support his family driving a cab, while his engineering degree seems useless in the US, her grandmother, and her mother, who is not handling the transition to a new country well at all.
It's a beautiful story of friendship and families.

[merryann-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book tackles a whole bunch of subjects: grieving, refugeeism, immigration, bullying, friendship, and more. I am pleased to find that while the book reviewer side of me acknowledges this, the reader in me didn't pay any attention to anything except for the delightful and touching and heartwarming story.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm very divided on this book. The story and characters were wonderful - I truly enjoyed this unique look at immigration and it was refreshing for the person assisting the newcomer to be something other than "the great white hero".

The dialogue (internal and external) however, was... offensive. Especially coming from someone who isn't a native or immigrant to the culture. Internally, Drita spoke in overly perfected, choppy English (which makes no sense since her internal dialogue is/should be her native speech translated to English -therefore it should be natural and free-flowing). The opening line of the book is a good example of this: "For three days, before I am coming to this country, I can't eat."

Internally and externally, Maxie spoke in what could be perceived as a caricature of inner-city idiomatic ebonics (incorrect tenses, incorrect plurality (for instance, "I gots")). Her father corrects her for speaking "slang" at one point, but his language isn't much better (especially considering he's some hotshot at a bank).

[amulve2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I liked the book “Drita my Homegirl” by Jennt Lombard. One reason I liked this book was because of the point of view it was written from. I liked how the book was written from Drita’s view so the reader knows exactly how she is feeling. The book is also written from Maxie’s point of view. This allows the reader to be more interested in the book because we get to go into the life of Drita and experience what it is like to move from a country to America. It also allows the reader to see the different perspectives between Drita and Maxie. Another reason I liked this book was because of the writing. The writing flowed well together and was very organized. The two different character’s perspectives were also written in different fonts in the book so the reader knew which character they were reading. The writing also accurately described how Drita was feeling about moving to America. “For three days, before I am coming to this country, I can’t eat. My mother is afraid I’m sick, and the Americans will turn us away when we get to New York City.” This shows how worried Drita is about moving to America, she is so worried that she cannot eat. The big idea of this story is that friendship can occur when you least expect it.

[kimjd_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a treat. This goes far beyond the "typical" friendship stories aimed at 3rd through 5th graders. A refugee from Kosovo, Drita has just arrived in America with her family. She is excited about attending school, but her first day in Miss Salvato's fourth grade classroom proves challenging: even though she does not speak English, she can tell that one of the girls is making fun of her. Miss Salvato turns the tables on this class clown, though, when she suggests that Maxie's social studies project can be to learn about Kosovo and about Drita's journey to America. The chapters alternate between Drita's voice and Maxie's, and through the two perspectives, readers quickly appreciate the girls' differences and commonalities: both girls are struggling with difficult family situations. Their friendship develops slowly and believably, and readers will cheer for both girls as they and their families grow through the connections they make. While most children at this grade level probably are not familiar with the conflict that has torn the former Yugoslavian region for so long, Lombard weaves in current events in a way that middle graders will understand. The liberal use of Albanian phrases may be intimidating to some readers, and no glossary is included, although the meanings of most of the phrases can be inferred from the text. Students who do not let the unfamiliar phrases deter them, however, will be glad that they stayed with the story.

[pumabeth · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very believable story about friendship between two girls from different worlds: Albania and New York. The author's telling is very convincing. Her background as a school teacher who has taught students from many nations gathered together in the same classroom allows her to create authentic characters. One can really feel Drita's confusion at some of her first encounters with American school children and at her mother's emotional breakdown. One can also relate to Maxie's troubles as she tries to adjust to life without her mother and attempts to take on the challenge of finding a way to communicate with Drita.

[rdavis9_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a wonderful story of learning to respect others! It tells the story of two girls from different worlds and how they become friends. This is an excellent story to use with older elementary and/or middle school students.