Call Me Iggy

Description: "Ignacio "Iggy" Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy's world is spun around. But Marisol has too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito's meddling, Iggy's life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery. Call me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately--as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election--his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent."--Amazon.com.

Brief description:

Born in Puerto Rico and based in Columbus, Ohio, Rafael Rosado is a seasoned writer, director and storyboard artist for the animation industry. He began his career at Character Builders in Columbus, Ohio as an assistant animator. He quickly worked his way up to become a character designer, storyboard artist and commercial director. During his tenure there he worked on such shows as Fox's Emmy Award-winning Life With Louie, HBO's Happily Ever After and Fox's Where in The World Is Carmen San Diego.

After leaving Character Builders in 1994, Rafael went to work for Warner Brothers Animation, storyboarding on Pinky and The Brain and Emmy nominated Animaniacs, for which he also wrote two episodes.

He was then recruited by the newly-founded Sony Television Animation division, where he worked on eleven shows including directing episodes of CBS's Project GeeKeR and NBC's Sammy. He was promoted to Supervising Director on Extreme Ghostbusters and Producer on Men In Black: The Animated Series.

After 5 years honing his skills in Los Angeles, Rafael moved back to Ohio to raise his family. He is now one of the most highly sought-after storyboard artists, working for major studios such as Warner Brothers, The Walt Disney Company, Sony, Universal and the Cartoon Network. Highly diverse, he has storyboarded on action, comedy and pre-school shows, shows as diverse as Boondocks, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Batman, The Venture Brothers and Curious George.

Rafael's first graphic novel, Giants Beware!, was published by First Second Books in early 2012. His short film The Tortured Clown was acquired by and featured on the Sundance Channel.

Review Quotes:

Winner of the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics
A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editor's Choice

"A powerful, timely story delicately balances an authentic teenage voice with a nuanced message about embracing and straddling multiple identities while thoughtfully portraying racism, microaggressions, and anti-immigrant ideology." --Kirkus, starred

"This is a thoughtful, absorbing graphic novel with a timely message about knowing oneself." --School Library Journal, starred

"Pristine artwork and a witty, nuanced story make this an unforgettable reading experience." --Booklist, starred

"The romance between Iggy and Marisol is tender and chaste, and Iggy's growth is clear as he negotiates the needs and advice of others with his own hopes for the future." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (BCCB)

"Rosado [and] Aguirre imbues pathos and humor into charged yet smartly balanced conversations surrounding colonization, compulsory assimilation, Latinx culture, personal identity, and the political climate as it was during the 2016 election." --Publishers Weekly