title: The Unwelcome Journey
author: Brown, Alice Mirro
description: The Unwelcome Journey is about learning self-esteem through the story of an elephant. It is set in Jamaica and tells the story of Tiki and Coco, an African slave and an Arawak girl, who meet when a slave ship arrives on the island to gather spices. Coco wants to teach their children not to have a slave mentality, to become successful and happy, but struggles on how to do it. He searches for generations and finally, when his grand-daughter, Emma, asks him to tell her the stories of the great animals that roamed his homeland. He tells her about tigers, lions and elephants. Emma questions him about how such a large animal as an elephant can be trained to help men build houses by carrying large logs with their trunks. "Sometimes the thing that is holding you back is all in your head," Coco says.