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Summary
Summary
A young girl in El Salvador goes to the market with her father and helps her family obtain necessities by trading a precious item of her own.
Author Notes
Elain Marie Alphin was born in 1955 in San Francisco, California. She attended Rice University and upon graduation she received a Watson Research Fellowship, a grant given to graduating college seniors to fund independent study and travel outside the United States. She spent the next year in England, doing research for a novel she was writing about Richard III and his murder of his nephews. She turned her research into a novel for middle-grade readers entitled, Tournament of Time. Her other novels includeded Ghost Cadet, Picture Perfect, The Perfect Shot, and Simon Says. She won the Edgar Award for Best Young Adult Mystery and was named a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers for the novel Counterfeit Son. She died on August 19, 2014 at age 58.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-4The story of a young girl helping her father trade some of their possessions for basic necessities in war-torn El Salvador seems an unlikely topic for an easy reader. However, this poignant narrative, told from the child's perspective, is straightforward and speaks to the heart. María never intended to trade her stuffed bear, but her sensitivity to her family's circumstances helps her to make the difficult decision. A general map and glossary (with a pronunciation guide) for the eight Spanish words/phrases used in the text precede the five chapters. The Spanish blends easily with the English text and the meaning is also made clear in context. Sandin's watercolors add to the emotional impact of this beginning reader and do an effective job of setting the scene. An author's note intended for adults briefly explains about the war that took place in the 1980s. This sensitive and compelling title will be welcome in all libraries, particularly those serving refugees from El Salvador.Gale W. Sherman, Pocatello Public Library, ID (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
Illustrated by Joan Sandin. Alphin uses the "I Can Read" format to tell a serious story set in El Salvador in the 1980s. On their way to market, when María and her papa encounter guerrilla soldiers, Papa explains that the war means that he can no longer work to earn money for the things they need. At the market square, María and her stuffed bear, Paco, help Papa trade a tablecloth, chairs, and tools for food. When Papa goes off to talk to a farmer about work, a persistent couple bargains with María for Paco; they want him for their son, Miguel, who has been seriously injured by soldiers. Resistant at first, María soon trades Paco for butter, cheese, and milk to help feed her family. On the trip home, María misses Paco but imagines how delighted Miguel will be to receive him. The details of life in war-torn El Salvador are grim yet do not overwhelm this compassionate story. The author's note puts the story in historical context, and Sandin's soft watercolor illustrations give the reader additional information about the setting and culture. The serious tone and direct narrative of this story successfully relate the immediate ways in which war affects the life of a child. m.v.k. Stephanie Greene Owen Foote, Second Grade Strongman g Illustrated by Dee DeRosa. Not only is Owen Foote small for his age, he also has the kind of soft, curly hair that girls like to ruffle. His attempts to prove his manhood under such constraints have landed him in the principal's office more than once. Owen's one stroke of luck is that he has his grandfather's blood running through his veins - and his grandfather was a professional strongman who could play tug-of-war against twelve men and tear quarters in half. Although his pudgy friend Joseph insists that being fat isn't so great, either, Owen doesn't believe it; and his difficulties mount until he gets into trouble with the school nurse and has to apologize. By the time Owen learns from his grandmother that her husband's greatest strength was his character, most readers will agree that this is one trait the spunky second grader can definitely claim. Owen is a likable character who reacts in a believable way to some readily identifiable school problems. In her first book for young people, the author appears to have mastered the art of seeing things wholly from a child's perspective. Adults and children will find some humor here, although not always in the same places, and both audiences will agree on the novel's likely appeal to boys just delving into chapter books. n.v. Jessie Haas Clean House Illustrated by Yossi Abolafia. Apparently, Tess and her mom have never heard of Martha Stewart, the patron saint of homemakers everywhere. Otherwise, they wouldn't be so discombobulated when Aunt Alice and Cousin Kate decide to visit, leaving them only three days to turn their comfortably cluttered dwelling into a showplace - like Aunt Alice's. The resulting series of events, described in short, pithy chapters, are like chaotic sitcoms with plenty of audience appeal as the hapless duo tries to cope with recalcitrant pets, overstuffed closets, and a seemingly endless pile of unwashed dishes. Do they succeed? Yes. But it turns out that Aunt Alice and Cousin Kate feel more at home amidst normal family chaos than in a spotless, antiseptic atmosphere. The happy ending shows the family contentedly eating chips straight from the bag and salsa from a jar. Situations and style are suited to young readers, who may find a familiar note in the proceedings as enhanced by Abolafia's lively line drawings. m.m.b. Miriam Nerlove, Author-Illustrator Flowers on the Wall In Warsaw in 1938, Polish Jews struggle to survive poverty and increasingly virulent anti-Semitism. For little Rachel, winter means staying in bed in the family's small, dark basement apartment because she has a bad cough and no shoes to wear. Her brother Nat and her mama and papa are out every day trying to earn a few coins for food. Occasional bits of good fortune give the family courage to go on: a gift of some fresh flowers, a pair of cracked and broken shoes for Rachel, and some paints and paint brushes, which Rachel uses joyously to cover every inch of their cracked walls with pictures of beautiful flowers. As the years of war go on and the persecution of the Jews escalates, Rachel's dream of becoming an artist fades like the colors ofÿthe flowers on the wall. The story ends with the deportation of the family to Treblinka in June 1942. Rachel's story was inspired by one of Roman Vishniac's photographs of a little girl huddled in bed with flowers painted on the wall behind her. Like those famous photographsÿof Eastern European Jewry, this simple story offers youngÿpeople a glimpse of a world that vanished in the Holocaust. h.b.z. Maxine Rose Schur When I Left My Village Illustrated by Brian Pinkney. Menelik and his family, first introduced in Day of Delight: A Jewish Sabbath in Ethiopia (Dial), are Beta Israel - Ethiopian Jews - who live in the Gondar province in the mountains of Ethiopia. Other Ethiopians call the Beta Israel Falashas, strangers, although they buy tools made by Menelik's father, a blacksmith. The Beta Israel are threatened by Ethiopia's new military government, rich landowners, and drought, and therefore Menelik's father decides the family must leave their village forever. Menelik's narration, sprinkled with Ethiopian words, creates an authentic voice to describe the family's difficult and dangerous journey from Ethiopia to the Sudan and ultimately to Israel. The straightforward, unembellished text is provocative and emotional. Brian Pinkney's signature scratchboard illustrations in black and white enhance the serious tone of this riveting family story. m.b.s. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 1-3. Growing up in El Salvador, Maria understands that her father can work for neither the government nor the guerrillas without reprisals from the other side. Now they must barter their handiwork and their furniture for food. Going to market with her father, she takes along her stuffed bear Paco. When Papa leaves Maria in charge, she finds the courage to make good trades, even letting her beloved Paco go in exchange for the food her family needs. A glossary is provided for Spanish words used in the text, although generally their meanings are clear from the context, at least when they first appear. Libraries looking for more contemporary stories reflecting other cultures will find this a good choice for young readers, particularly for those who know a little Spanish. (Reviewed Aug. 1996)0060245212Carolyn Phelan