Pellegrino, Marge. 2009. Journey of Dreams. Frances Lincoln Children's Books. 250 pages.
Thwap, thwap, thwap. The high green branches of the pine trees shiver in the wind from teh dark green machine whirring above us. My brother Carlos scoops up Manuelito and runs toward me. With his arm around my shoulder, we flee from the dark shadow, which moves swiftly along the ground. As we approach, Mama sees us and pulls back into our ni'tzja. We follow her inside our home. Together we sit on the floor, surrounded by the rest of our family. We sit without speaking, until the sound fades and the sun leaves us.
Tomasa is our heroine, she narrates this dangerous journey taken with her family--her father, her brother, her sister--as they flee the life they've known and seek the elusive thing that is safety and freedom. Journey of Dreams is set in Central America (Guatemala to be exact.) War has upset Tomasa's life. And with the soldiers burning and destroying villages, they have little choice but to flee the life they've always known. The only way to survive is to run. The journey is dangerous...and long. Will they ever be safe? Will this family ever find a place to call home?
The book was definitely interesting. I thought it did a good job in presenting a representative story of refugees from this time period (and other time periods presumably). It's a complex story with well-drawn characters that you could connect to emotionally.
The book also includes a glossary and map--both which I found useful.
© Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
2 comments:
This one looks interesting to me thanks to the setting. Thanks for the review.
I picked up a copy of this at the ALA conference this summer and I'm really looking forward to it.
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