Cover Reveal: Bright Star / Lucero by Yuyi Morales

Happy Monday! I am HONORED to share the cover for Yuyi Morales' Bright Star / Lucero. I received a PDF of it on Friday. I read it twice on Friday, three times on Saturday, and four times on Sunday. My heart wants everyone to read it. I wish we could experience it together right now.  It's a beautiful, beautiful gift. Thank you, Yuyi and Neal, for sharing your thoughts on Bright Star / Lucero! 

A Message from Yuyi Morales

Child, I wish that you always feel accompanied when you most need it. I hope that you never, ever feel alone, and that there is always someone to protect you.

As an adult human it is my responsibility to make sure that the world we live in cares for you. You deserve to be welcomed, loved, and celebrated wherever you arrive.

Making our world a place for you to shine, as the bright star that you are, is our urgent work. I take this mission as the highest calling of my life.

This book I have created, Bright Star and Lucero, I have made with the collaboration of people who, like jaguars and snakes, are bringing their strength to fight for a world that honors you. I wish you could see how many people love you.

Yet, you might rightly ask why it is taking us so long to make sure you are ok. I have no answer for that except to tell you that we will do better. It is a promise from my heart. This book is the token of my promise.

A Message from Editor Neal Porter

When we finished our work on Dreamers Yuyi told me she wanted her next book to be a lullaby--a soft, warm blanket that would envelop a young child. Bright Star is both of those things. But as it's a work by Yuyi it's also a complex, carefully crafted book that touches on immigration, wildlife, and the importance of finding your voice and standing strong. I think that blanket is also a cloak of empowerment and I can't wait for readers to try it on.

Bright Star's Jacket

Look for Bright Star and Lucero on September 7, 2021. 

From the creator of the New York Times bestseller Dreamers comes a heartbreakingly beautiful story about growth, empowerment, and finding one’s own voice.

Child, you are awake!
You are alive!
You are a bright star,
Inside our hearts.

Told with a combination of powerful, spare language and sumptuous and complex imagery that is typical of Yuyi Morales’s work, this is the story of a fawn making her way through a border landscape teaming with flora and fauna native to the region. A gentle but empowering voice encourages her to face her fears when she comes across an obstacle in the form of an insurmountable barrier.

Yuyi Morales’ first book since her New York Times bestseller Dreamers is a book for very young children looking for their place in a world full of uncertainty. It is a book with resonance for all children, especially those whose safety is threatened due to the immigration crisis in the US.

Bright Star's Case Cover