Maria Gracia Gutierrez aka Grace

(Arielle Perez)

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Maria Gracia Gutierrez aka Grace (Arielle Perez): is the heart and soul of this story.

She is an ambitious, sometimes sassy thirteen-year-old girl who expresses herself through comedy and singing. She is obsessed with TikTok, YouTube, Kpop, Drake, Taylor Swift and the band Black Pink. She wants to fit into life in Canada but isn’t sure how. Her greatest strengths are her voice and her determination. Her greatest flaws are prioritizing her singing career over being a kid and not letting people in. Grace is sure that being a “star” singer means being accepted and earning recognition in Canada and after initial resistance, being the lead soloist in the Northern Nightingales Choir becomes part of the plan. She knows she can do it as long as she is wearing her lucky tsinelas (flip flops). Getting to know people in Canada is not easy for Grace because she was popular and comfortable in the Philippines and now feels like she has lost her mojo. She thinks her video chats with best friends back home, and chilling with her cousin Ria, work just fine as a social life. Plus, she has her fans—her 10k+ followers on social media. But spending time with like-minded kids and reconnecting with her estranged mother will show Grace there’s more to life than ‘doing it for the likes!’. Grace will have to learn that community and connection are just as important as her dreams.