Jessica and her mom, Camila, must live in their cousins' crowded apartment until Camila finds work making holiday decorations and they can afford their own place. Isolated on the playground and baffled in
class, unable to understand her teacher's instructions, Jessica is intensely homesick. But little by little, things get better. She begins to learn English, and she loves the cats she and her mom care for to earn extra money. Left behind by traveling owners, the cats make the best of their situation, inspiring Jessica to do the same.

Lynn McGee's (Bronx, NY) published volumes of poetry include Tracks (2019), Sober Cooking (2016), and two award-winning chapbooks. Twice a Pushcart nominee, she is also a Best of the Net Award nominee and winner of a MacDowell fellowship and a Judith's Room Emerging Writers Award. She has taught college writing as well as adult literacy to immigrants and has led poetry workshops in New York City elementary schools as an artist-in-residence with the Teachers and Writers Collaborative. Lynn is a communications manager at Borough of Manhattan Community College, The City University of New York. Starting Over in Sunset Park is her first children's book