In the 1988, LIFE Magazine depicted Red Hook as the crack capital of America and included it in a roundup of the worst neighborhoods in the country. But, to Torrey Maldonado, a Brooklyn teacher and award-winning author, the neighborhood has always been the perfect place to be, as depicted in his new picture book Just Right.
Maldonado’s debut picture book embraces the idea that “home is where the heart is,” while emphasizing that anyone can help make the world “just right” by having, or being, a positive role model.
The book follows Toby, a young boy from Red Hook who lives with his two parents. And although his father is hard to please, he finds comfort and warmth with his uncle in his garage in Red Hook.
The story for Just Right was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic, after the borough had shut down. The big feelings that arose from Maldonado after the death of his mother and those around him, made the author feel “far from right.”
But he found solace in taking these big feelings and turning them into stories, he told BK Reader.
Maldonado said he grew up in poverty, but his mother cultivated an imaginative eye in him, helping him make “something out of nothing.” This helped the stories flow through him, from memories of his uncle’s garage, to the barbershop, or hearing Hip-Hop being blared from street corners.
“I wasn't always a writer. I was always in love with story, and I was always in love with storytelling, and I had the best storytellers,” Maldonado said. “And my Brooklyn neighborhood, it's almost like every corner somebody was spinning a New York City tale, and it felt like the magic was around me.”
Now, his inspiration comes from more than just his imagination. It’s an ode to the children he has spent teaching for over 30 years.
“And it also [to] celebrate the Brooklyn community that I could count on when I was Toby's age that flipped my mood from down to up,” he noted.
Maldonado, who is the author of popular middle grade novels, including Hands, What Lane?, and Tight, hopes his writing dispels stereotypes about the borough he grew up in. From his novels to his picture books, Maldonado wants readers to simply feel lighter and more positive.
“I want readers to walk away realizing that whoever they're around and they feel just right around those people, be around your just right people,” Maldonado said. “Find your just-right people. Find your just-right places and be there and be with them.”
Just Right (Penguin Random House) is available for purchase now.
