Journey of Dreams
Grade 5–8—Fleeing their burned village in the Guatemalan highlands, 13-year-old Tomasa, her two brothers, and her storytelling father make their way first to the capital and then north to Mexico City and across another border to Arizona. They reunite with her mother and another brother, who are safe thanks to the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s. Artistic Tomasa loves to sketch and to re-create her world in her weaving and embroidery. Through her narrative, readers can envision her family and village life as well as the sights of her journey from the mountains to the cities and north to America. This well-paced first-person account is full of suspenseful moments, but also psychologically convincing as the author shows Tomasa consciously burying her own emotions while her younger brother, Manuel, adopts another woman in place of the mother who left him behind to save her 14-year-old from the army. Although Tomasa's journey takes a year, the pace moves along quickly. Still, there is room to recount Guatemalan folktales and show many details of village life as well as the refugee experience. A short background explanation, a glossary, and a map complete this harrowing but ultimately hopeful immigration story based on the author's work with refugees.—Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MDCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.