Skater Cielo
by Rachel Katstaller; illus. by the author
Primary    Orchard/Scholastic    40 pp.    g
7/22    978-1-338-75111-6    $18.99

Cielo (whose name means sky in Spanish) is the picture of confidence and determination on her skateboard. Her sure smile and fierce slash-like eyebrows signal her mindset: “Nothing could stop her.” Then she encounters The Whale, the biggest “pool” in a new skate park. She drops in bravely, but an unexpected fall psyches her out so much that she begins to mess up previously mastered jumps and tricks. Her crisis of confidence is relatable; frustration leads to anger, and “Cielo…shoved her skateboard in the back of her closet. She didn’t want to look at it ever again.” ­Katstaller’s “steezy” (skater-speak for stylish, according to the glossary) mixed-media illustrations are both child-friendly and sophisticated, conveying emotion and intensity via color, shape, and dynamic shifts in perspective. With the encouragement of some other young skaters at the park, Cielo returns to confront her fears and tentatively attempts The Whale once more. It doesn’t go well—but this time she isn’t alone. She falls “again…and again…Her friends helped her up each time.” The story’s focus is entirely on the kids (no adult interference in the text or art), which helps convey the sense of community Katstaller describes in an author’s note about her own skating experience. When Cielo finally flies, triumphantly, the sky really is the limit.

From the July/August 2022 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.