Ignacio (Iggy) Garcia is an Ohio-born Columbian teen. He decides that he wants to know more about his culture. Although he is clueless at first, he gradually starts to learn more about his heritage.

Iggy has a rough first day of high school, his older brother Billy wants nothing to do with him, he bumps into a girl, Marisol and spills coffee over her papers, and he finds himself in Spanish class instead of French. But even though he hasn't learned Spanish from his Colombian parents and would rather learn French, he sticks with Spanish in order to impress another girl, Kristi.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for give an advance copy in exchange of an honest review.

Una novela gráfica muy rápida de leer y con muchas reflexiones: la migración, la superación, las raíces, la familia, el racismo, la cultura y el intercambio cultural, etc.
Iggy (Ignacio) es un "gringo latino" es decir, un ciudadano estadounidense pero de ascendencia latinoamericana, en específico, Colombiana. Por un error en la malla escolar, Iggy queda inscrito en la clase de español en vez de la de francés. Esto de alguna forma lo lleva a conectarse con sus raíces y el pasado familiar.

El toque fantástico de la historia: Iggy encuentra las cenizas de su abuelo y de sorpresa comienza a interactuar día a día con el fantasma de su abuelo, quién le da consejos y le cuenta sobre su vida y la relación que tuvo con su hijo, el padre de Iggy.
Paralelo a esto, Iggy conoce en la escuela a Marisol, una niña Mexicana que vive en Estados Unidos en forma indocumentada, con el miedo constante a ser deportada y sufriendo del racismo hacia los inmigrantes ilegales.
A medida que avanza la historia Iggy descubre muchas cosas, hechos de su pasado familiar, hechos del presente y cómo afectan a las personas (especialmente la política), y con ello su visión de mundo cambia y sus formas de reaccionar a él. Se vuelve más consciente de su entorno y más atento a las injusticias sociales.

En resumen, creo que lo que vemos principalmente en esta novela gráfica, es el crecimiento de un adolescente en lo personal, social y cultural.
La recomiendo mucho.

Call Me Iggy is a story about a Columbian high schooler who has lived all his life in Columbus, Ohio. He never learned Spanish or knew his grandfather but when he knocks over his urn in the family's basement, his grandfather's ghost shows up to teach him a few lessons. I enjoyed the deep dive into the culture that the main character - and the reader - got throughout this lovely journey of Iggy getting in touch with his roots and finding out what is truly important in life. I'm looking forward to future work from this author and artist!

Following Iggy in his journey to learning about his heritage and more about his father's experiences as a Colombian-American man making a life for himself, Call me Iggy is a funny and fun read. When bumps into Marisol Iggy's highschool career (which just started) changes entirely. As he navigates his life through highschool and having to learn Spanish, Iggy learn about his culture and heritage. In the background of this narrative is the underlying political setting of November 2016, when Trump gets elected. It's an important read to understanding the diversity in Latin-American community, especially the varying socioeconomic and political backgrounds.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest, spoiler-free review!

Themes: Family, Culture, Politics
Representation: Columbian MC and SCs, Mexican SC
Content Warnings: Racism

PERSONAL COMMENTS
I flew through this book. It was a short and lighthearted story that still touched on larger issues. I liked how the author formatted this book. I liked the pacing, and I especially loved the art. I have no complaints about this book. However, although I liked this book, I didn’t love it.

CHARACTERS
I think that the characters in this book are well-written.

Iggy is an Ohio-born Columbian teen. He decides that he wants to know more about his culture. Although he is clueless at first, he gradually starts to learn more about his heritage. I think that the author does a good job of trying to capture the essence of a Columbian character that is born in America. Someone who is American but doesn’t feel American enough.

Marisol is pretty well-written. I liked her and Iggy’s friendship. I also liked how her character helped to give Iggy a different perspective on things. Finally, I liked that Marisol also has her backstory as well which gives depth to her characters.

As for Iggy’s friends and family. I would say that his friendships and crushes are respective to that of a typical teenage boy. However, I would say that some of his friends are ignorant and I wish some more accountability was taken. As for his family, I liked that Iggy had a generally positive relationship with them. I loved Abeulito and his backstory. I also liked how the author dealt with the dad’s backstory. However, I felt like there could’ve been more depth and focus on Iggy’s friends' and family’s backstories.

PLOT
Overall, this book had a fast pace since it is a graphic novel. So if you’re looking for something that you can read in about two hours or less, then this is the book for you!

In terms of plot, it starts with a bit of backstory (which will be relevant to the book). Then, it quickly jumps into things. There’s enough conflict and tension to keep the story going and keep it interesting in my opinion. It’s not repetitive, and the main characters learn a lot.

Finally, the ending of the book was quite sweet.

OTHER
For the art, I thought that the art was beautiful. The artist drew with clean lines and a typical cartoon style which fits this YA book.

As for the themes of the book, I appreciated how the author addressed the issue of racism in America, especially regarding Latin Americans during the 2016 elections. It is a fundamental part of the book, and I think that author tackled it in a way that was realistic but still hopeful, focusing on things such as family, and community.

It’s always important to focus on social issues such as these so if you’re looking for a YA comic book that has humour, focuses more on family and friendship rather than romance, and tackles political issues, then this is the book for you!

RATINGS
Personal Rating: 4/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Other: 5/5
Final Rating: 4.5/5 (round to 5 stars)

I absolutely adored this!! Loved the artwork, the heartwarming story, the humor, and the characters! It was a delight to read and so emotional!

I read this graphic novel after receiving a digital copy from NetGalley. In this story, high school freshman Iggy finds himself in a Spanish class instead of his first choice French. He’s sticks it out because he has a crush and through some fated magical realism gets the help of his Colombian grandfather’s ghost. Iggy ultimately turns to Marisol for tutoring, a classmate who works evenings cleaning office buildings with her family of undocumented immigrants. This is a story of family, friendship, cultural heritage, border politics, and bildungsroman. Overall, I enjoyed the colorful illustrations. While a very important sentiment especially in the context of the book, Trump hate abounded which distracted me from the story’s plot and characters. Parts of the book felt clunky and may have benefited from a bit more narrative editing. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed abuelito who provides some comedic relief but also a very touching moment at the end.

(Thank you to Rafael Rosado, Jorge Aguirre and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC)

Really liked this book and the art! It was a cute story about Latin heritage as well as finding your way back to your culture (with a tiny bit of romance of course).

I loved the characters and found Abelito hilarious with his funny comments and loved the friendship between Marisol and Iggy and how it evolved into Iggy learning a lot about being undocumented in America as well as learning Spanish and getting back to his Colombian roots throughout the story.

Not only was it an amazing plot but the art was stunning and really well done. Definitely recommend this to anyone who wants to learn a little bit about Colombian and Mexican culture.

I am a huge fan of making important stories like this one more accessible and readable for teens/youth through graphic novels. I loved the way Iggy and his dad connected (or reconnected) with their culture through the ghost of their abuelito. A lot of topics were just barely touched on and I wish they'd had more detail. I do also feel like this was more middle grade than YA but still overall enjoyed it. Thank you Netgalley for the arc!

3.75 ⭐

a beautiful story! I loved the message that was presented. It's set in 2016 when the elections where just about to happen and we see the impact it had.

I really loved Iggy as a character he goes through tremendous character growth, learning to love and embrace his Colombian heritage.

it wasn't always an easy read there are some sensitive topics such as trump supporters, racism and a few others.

would recommend!

thank you Netgalley, Jorge Aguirre and First second for an arc in exchange for an honest review!

I would’ve loved to see even more of Iggy and Marisol’s relationship after they went to the cinema, but other than that I really enjoyed this.

Some of the things I loved:
• The writing and artwork!
• Iggy’s grandpa (the end nearly made me cry)
• The trump slander

Absolutely loved this graphic novel.

The art style was very professional and defined.

The characters were interesting as well.

The ending was so wholesome!

one thing that I have in common with Iggy, is my hate for Trump lol. The storyline was amazing an perfectly portrayed how kids today are not interested enough in their own roots and history of blood. Abuelito was my most favorite character in this book cuz well Iggy was really always busy being a moppy baby, instead of doing something for himself, so abuelito saved the whole plotline!!! Stan abuelito!!!

Iggy is known as a Gringo Latino, meaning he has latino heritage, but has been assimilated so much that he doesn't speak Spanish at all. It is a privilege that other Hispanics in his class do not have. For example, Marisol is a DACA, and is worried that she could be deported at any time. (And this is especially true because this story takes place in 2016, just in time for a certain orange president to come around.)

Iggy knows very little about his heritage, and it isn’t until he happens to get enrolled in a Spanish class that he has to think about it at all. That, and he knocks over the urn with his grandfather’s ashes, and he appears to him.

It is a cute story. His abuelo gives him advice that doesn’t always work, but that’s ok, it brings him closer to him and his ancestors.

A little complicated, with a lot of things happening at once, that all come together nicely.

THanks to Netgalley and First Second Books for making this book available for an honest review. This will be published the 13th of February 2024.

Ignacio (Iggy) Garcia has a rough first day of high school: his older brother Billy wants nothing to do with him, he bumps into a girl (Marisol) and spills coffee over her papers, and he finds himself in Spanish class instead of French. But even though he hasn't learned Spanish from his Colombian parents and would rather learn French, he sticks with Spanish in order to impress another girl, Kristi. A mishap in cleaning at home leads Iggy to discovering his dead abuelito's ashes -- and speaking with his ghost -- and soon his abuelito's advice has Iggy succeeding in class and in impressing the girl. Until the advice turns sour, that is, and Iggy must turn to Marisol to plead for her tutoring in Spanish. And along the way, Iggy might just learn a little more about himself and his heritage.

Set in 2016, this graphic novel not only captures the daily drama of high school, it also provides a look at how the political atmosphere affected communities in different ways. Iggy's brother and father seem inclined to support Trump, while Iggy's distaste for the future president becomes a deeper concern as he learns more about Marisol's situation as an undocumented person (one of the DACA Dreamers). The story explores the different struggles of different immigrants and reveals that their lives are much more multifaceted than political soundbites can portray. A poignant story, beautifully illustrated. 4 stars.

Thank you, First Second Books and NetGalley, for providing an eARC of this book. Opinions expressed here are solely my own.

Call Me Iggy was a fascinating graphic novel to read. It's set during 2016, right before that year's presidential election and tells the story of a boy, Iggy, and how he learns to connect with his Colombian heritage after he accidentally conjures up the ghost of his grandfather. The artwork is beautiful and the story does a great job of showing a wide variety of experiences of one's heritage, as well as accurately capturing the different responses people had to the 2016 election.

Iggy accidentally gets put into a Spanish class, and it sets off a series of events that make him realize he knows nothing of his heritage. Though his parents are Columbian, Iggy and his brother do not speak Spanish. Frustrated by what he sees as a pointless class, he stumbles upon his grandfather/abuelito's ashes in his basement, waking his ghost. Initially, Iggy sees it as an opportunity to get help with Spanish, but slowly realizes he was missing a lot more. Thanks to abuelito and a new friend, Iggy discovers who he is and where he comes from.

I really enjoyed this one.
Especial the understanding the main character gets throughout the comic.
Iggy or Ignacio is a gringo latino teenager, meaning his parents worked really hard to give him and his brother the life they currently live and the boys don't really seem to understand what life is for other immigrants whom weren't as lucky as they are. So when Ignacio stumbles on his grandfathers ashes , his ghosts turns up and starts to teach Ignacio Spanish, but also about their history and about values.
Ignacio learns and grows throughout the comic into a wonderful young man who learns and knows what really is important in this world.
Their was so much love here!
the way they showed the discrimination, disrespect and the hurt, the work and the losses some people must go through to get what others are just handed, it was magical.
Just a beautiful comic!

Graphic novels are SUPER popular at my library currently and once this one is published in February 2024, I know this will be a VERY popular read. I imagine we will have to order multiple copies of this book because it will be THAT popular.

Very enjoyable read. It had ghosts, and crushes, and characters learning to embrace their heritage. The only thing that threw me off was the structure of the Spanish class in the book. No entry-level Spanish class starts with verb conjugation.