Review: Call Me Iggy by Jorge Aguirre and Rafael Rosado

Call Me Iggy
Jorge Aguirre
Illustrated by Rafael Rosado
First Second
Published February 13, 2024

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About Call Me Iggy

Ignacio “Iggy” Garcia is an Ohio-born Colombian American teen living his best life. After bumping into Marisol (and her coffee) at school, Iggy’s world is spun around. But Marisol as too much going on to be bothered with the likes of Iggy. She has school, work, family, and the uphill battle of getting her legal papers. As Iggy stresses over how to get Marisol to like him, his grandfather comes to the rescue. The thing is, not only is his abuelito dead, but he also gives terrible love advice. The worst. And so, with his ghost abuelito’s meddling, Iggy’s life begins to unravel as he sets off on a journey of self-discovery.

Call Me Iggy tells the story of Iggy searching for his place in his family, his school, his community, and ultimately—as the political climate in America changes during the 2016 election— his country. Focusing on familial ties and budding love, Call Me Iggy challenges our assumptions about Latino-American identity while reaffirming our belief in the hope that all young people represent. Perfect for lovers of multigenerational stories like Displacement and The Magic Fish.

My Review

This is such a sweet story. Iggy accidentally wakes the ghost of his grandfather and the two agree to help each other. Iggy needs help learning Spanish and getting the girl he’s interested in, and in exchange, Abuelito would like Iggy to find an orchid field where the family can scatter his ashes.

Sometimes Abuelito’s help leads to disastrous (but funny) consequences. At other times, he helps Iggy see things in a new way or challenges the views he holds about himself, his culture, and his family.

The story takes place during the 2016 presidential election, so some scenes reference some of the campaign speeches and rhetoric that some voters ascribed to. Iggy’s parents share their views on the political climate, and so does Iggy’s friend Marisol, who could be deported under the new presidential administration.

As a character, Iggy demonstrates so much growth and new confidence through the conversations he has with his grandfather and his friendship with Marisol. I loved the illustrations of his different expressions. Those paired with the dialog made for an incredibly moving story and a pretty quick read.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. I can see the comparison to The Magic Fish, though there are no fairytales in this book. It has some of the same feeling of searching for one’s place in the world. Readers looking for a sweet romance or story about finding where you belong will enjoy this book.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 10 up.

Representation
Iggy and his family are Columbian-American. Marisol and her family are undocumented Mexican immigrants.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Iggy’s grandfather teaches him his favorite swear word in Spanish. He and Iggy use the word several times.

Romance/Sexual Content
A boy and girl have romantic feelings for one another.

Spiritual Content
Iggy knocks over his grandfather’s urn, spilling his ashes, and his grandfather’s ghost appears, offering Iggy a deal: Spanish lessons and help getting the girl he’s crushing on in exchange for his finding a place to scatter his grandfather’s ashes.

Violent Content
Includes racist quotes from one of Donald Trump’s campaign speeches. Some other minor characters make racist comments. Iggy helping a girl pick up her school papers becomes a racist meme shared online. Characters assume Iggy is Puerto Rican and speaks Spanish.

Drug Content
At one point, Iggy’s father asks him if he’s using drugs. He’s guessing– there’s no evidence to make him think this.

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