The Girl from Chimel
Grade 5 Up–A human-rights activist and native Guatemalan tells stories about her grandparents, parents, and herself. She makes clear the cultural importance of the land and its animals, and describes indigenous life in detail. The book focuses on the time before the 36-year war in her native land. Although the reminiscences have value and some beautiful language, the writing is disorganized and the book does not read smoothly. Part of this may be attributed to translation, but in reality, the scattered bits and pieces of ideas do not come together anywhere, least of all at the end. Domis beautiful illustrations of people and animals do more to make connections than the text.–Kate McGowen, Topsham Public Library, MECopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.