Mama’s Nightingale follows a young girl named Saya whose mother is detained for being undocumented. In an emotional narrative, Saya yearns for her mother’s voice to tell her stories. Saya’s mother starts recording tapes with bedtime stories on it for her to listen to at bedtime, and Saya visits her mother with the dad every week. Saya’s Papa writes letters on behalf of his wife every week, but no one responds. Saya writes a letter to the newspaper, and a reporter decides to come interview her! Because of the news story, Saya’s mother is granted a hearing in front of a judge.

This book is beautiful and heartfelt. Despite being published in 2015, it is still timely as there are thousands of undocumented folks in detention centers and camps across the US. An unconscionable amount of these detained are children that have been separated from their parents, a most heinous act perpetrated by ICE. Author Edwidge Danticat wrote this book as a combination of her own experiences being separated from her parents when she and her brother were in Haiti and they were in the States, as well as the children she met once living in Florida that had parents and family members detained for being undocumented. The author’s note in the back gives some stats and figures, although I’m sure they’re much higher now, especially given the current administration. Human beings are NOT illegal. Families should be together. Children should never be in cages. Please vote in November.