Book Review: Latoya’s Downtown Day

Latoya’s Downtown Day

Author: Patricia Moore

Illustrator: Doriano Strologo

Latoya’s Downtown Day is a sweet story about Latoya and her Mama preparing for Latoya’s first trip downtown. We also learn a little about the struggles in Latoya’s daily life. In the story Mama tells Latoya about her first trip downtown, the places she visited and the shops she went to. Finally, the day arrives when Latoya saves enough money to go downtown! Their trip is a sweet trip, reflective on Mama’s trips downtown. There is one more stop, however, that Mama takes Latoya to and it is a beautiful tie in that I feel completes the story.

I loved that this story has so many elements to it. We have the real-life struggles of an inner-city family. We have family traditions that are carried out despite the hardships. We have the magic of a solid family unit, no matter how big or small that unit is. Finally, we have a creative way for Latoya to cope with and escape her daily struggles. This doesn’t just apply to “inner- city” children. We all have struggles that we need help coping with or need to escape. Latoya finds a healthy, brilliant way of doing this. Great job by Author Patricia Moore. I highly recommend this book.