School Library Journal Review
Gr 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. Domi's beautiful illustrations of people and animals do more to make connections than the text.-Kate McGowen, Topsham Public Library, ME (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) In this illustrated collection of autobiographical anecdotes, Nobel laureate Mench+ retells family history and legend from her childhood in a Mayan village in Guatemala. Her writing evokes a world of wild, friendly magic in which every living creature has its own spirit double. But she also hints gently at the distant political violence, as when the river disappears from her hometown because it is frightened by ""the bad times."" Richly colored Mayan-style illustrations by the Mexican artist Domi underscore the cheerful fusion of myth and memory. In one picture, a grinning little girl floats on her back, surrounded by striped and polka-dotted fish whose smiles show off tiny, spiky teeth. While the free-associative structure can leave readers in the lurch, with characters dropping from sight and stories sometimes left feeling unfinished, the unfamiliar rhythm and logic of the stories also lends them their distinctive voice, meditative and mysterious. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
Gr. 4-7. Maya activist and 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Menchu, with assistance from Guatemalan National Literature laureate Liano, offers a memoir of her girlhood in the Indian village of Chimel, in Guatemala. Each short chapter tells a story that adds to the broadening picture of history of the village and the everyday life and beliefs of its people. An early story tells of the writer's grandfather literally sweeping his intended bride off her feet and carrying her away to start a new village. Another anecdote provides vivid sensory details of an afternoon spent picking and eating forbidden blackberries, while still another gives a straightforward description of and the meaning behind the traditional practice of burning a baby's umbilical cord and the mother's placenta.\b Created with strong, primitive forms and vibrant colors, full-page oil paintings brighten half the double-page spreads and provide memorable scenes of Chimel through three generations. Providing a rare firsthand account of Guatemalan village life, this translated book is a good choice for students curious about the Maya as well as those seeking to complete the perennial memoir assignment. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2005 Booklist
