Journey of Dreams
By Marge Pellegrino
(Frances Lincoln, 2009)
250 pp. $15.95
Drawing from testimonies shared by refugee families from Guatemala, Pellegrino has written a gripping novel of 12-year-old Tomasa and her family, who flee for safety as their village is burned to the ground. While traveling north, they see how big landowners quickly take over the farmland after the indigenous people who have lived there for centuries are killed or forced out by soldiers. Every night of their journey, Tomasa’s father shares legends and family stories as he did each night in their village. After a harrowing border crossing into Mexico, Tomasa’s family finds help from the Sanctuary Movement. The book ends with their arrival in the United States. Journey of Dreams can introduce young adult readers to the experience of Central American immigrants and the long journey north, which is even more difficult today.
Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary
By Elizabeth Partridge
(Viking, 2009)
72 pp. $19.99
Designed for upper elementary and middle school, this coffee-table-style photo book tells the story of the Selma to Montgomery March in 1965. The narrative and many of the dramatic photos focus on the role of children, a number of whom have oral histories available for further reading. The book ends almost too neatly with the signing by Lyndon Johnson of the Voting Rights Act. However, a teacher or parent could clarify that the struggle for justice continued—and, in fact, still continues.
Fire in the Hole!
By Mary Cronk Farrell
(Clarion Books, 2009)
170 pp. $15