My Numero Uno: Evelyn Del Ray Is Moving Away by Meg Medina

EVELYN DEL RAY IS MY MAJOR AMIGO, MY NUMERO UNO BEST FRIEND.

Their apartments are just alike, except Evelyn's bedroom of yellow, not pink, so they both know all the best places for hide and seek. There's a zip line between the windows for sending secret messages. They both like to do the same things.

But today, Evelyn's front steps are filled with taped-up boxes and assorted things. A big truck is parked to swallow up Evelyn's furniture inside, her rainy day painting easel, her bouncy sofa, her dresser with the stickers around the mirror. Today is her last day here.

"COME PLAY, DANIELA," SHE SAYS

.

JUST LIKE TODAY IS ANY OTHER DAY.

Daniela and Evelyn find an empty moving box and pretend it's a bus they can drive all over town. But soon the room is empty except for them.

WE PLAY UNTIL THE TABLES THAT WERE BUS STOPS ARE GONE AND THE BEDS THAT WERE SKYSCRAPERS ARE GONE, TOO.

EVERYTHING HAS DISAPPEARED BUT US.

Grabbing both hands they leanback and spin around and around until they are dizzy and fall down together. They make a promise to talk to each other right after school each day. They plan to visit each other when school is out in the summer.

TOMORROW, EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT.

EVELYN DEL RAY IS MOVING AWAY. BUT SHE'LL ALWAYS BE MY NUMERO UNO FRIEND.

The loss of a first friend is a frequent rite of passage for childhood, but losing a best friend is no less hard, in award-winning author Meg Medina's moving story of two best friends, Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away (Candlewick, 2020). Author Medina reveals the closeness of the two friends casually in they re-visit their favorite things, their special games, and the routines of of propinquity and friendship they have shared that made them close, and their leave-taking is brief but poignant as they realize something special has ended. Artist Sonia Sanchez's illustrations are rich with color, texture, and the wordless emotion that document one of life's losses with warmth and pathos.