Alma Lucero Martinez Salazar

Finding Grace Alma Lucero Martinez Salazar

Finding Grace is a story of a clumsy young girl who is not very nice to other kids because she is scared. Her parents give her ballet lessons hoping she will gain confidence. She begins to feel more in control of her body and her emotions. Her mother remarks how graceful she has become and asks about whether she has grace in her heart and spirit. Their discussion, between the dance classes, highlights concepts of grace beyond the body, such as treating each other kindly, being forgiving, thinking about others, being loving, and making things right. The charming illustrations by Fernanda Miguel Godinez Zuniga, a student at the school for the deaf in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, bring the story to life. It is bilingual, English and Spanish, challenging kids to learn a second language.