In their optimistic, endearing debut picture book, Ege and Ávra, writers Evgenia Mantikas (third-generation Greek American) and Elifgül Büyükoral (born and raised in Türkiye) write a "love letter to [their] cultures and peoples" about a Turkish girl and a Greek girl who unexpectedly connect while fishing on the Aegean Sea.
Illustrator Nazli Tarcan's opening double-page spread depicts the vastness of the waterway that separates the girls' homelands. Although both countries share lush landscapes and bustling communities, "The two lands do not get along." Ege and Ávra both join their grandfathers in their rowboats to go fishing. The two boats creep closer, and Ege claims Ávra's boat is in their way while Ávra worries that Ege's boat will steal their fish. Both grandfathers calmly assure their granddaughters that "the sea knows what is best" for them. Although the girls are "determined to ignore each other," their fishing lines intertwine and snap, causing mayhem. Their grandfathers' laughter interrupts the girls' angry silence, until the girls are laughing, too. Eventually all come together in one boat and feast on their catch before reluctantly parting ways. "We belong to the sea," each girl thinks,"so the sea will bring her back to me."
Tarcan's digital art adds to the text, further connecting the characters: the boats, for example, are both named Captain--Kaptan (Turkish) and Kapetánios (Greek)--and both pairs pray before eating. Even the sea is a visual metaphor, at first serving as a symbol of separation, then turning rosy with sunset and new kinship. Ege and Ávra is a charming intergenerational story that features a cleverly plotted friendship and thoughtful, elegant illustrations. --Kieran Slattery, freelance reviewer, teacher, co-creator of Gender Inclusive Classrooms