Journey for Peace: The Story of Rigoberta Menchu (Rainbow Biography)
Grade 4-7?Brill's book scores high marks for gender and racial equity, peace studies, and class reports. In addition, its brevity and the author's skillful expository writing will please reluctant readers. Rigoberta Menchu, born in a Guatemalan village, embraced her father's political activism from an early age. After his violent death, she became a leader in organizing the Mayan people in their struggle against an oppressive government, and in 1992 she received the Nobel Peace Prize. The author draws upon her subject's autobiography, information from UN publications, and interviews with people active in the international peace movement. Little is said about the political situation in Guatemala. The native peoples' harsh life is background to Menchu's amazing rise from obscurity to becoming the voice of protest for her people. It's an exciting story, well told.?Shirley Wilton, Ocean County College, Toms River, NJCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.