134. We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez

read on my iPhone/Kindle/Book/Audible
narrated by Marisa Blake
Unabridged audio (9:31)
2020
326 pgs.
Adult/YA CRF 
Finished 10/15/2020
Goodreads rating: 4.56 - 1060 ratings
My rating: 4
Setting: contemporary migration from Guatemala to US

First line/s: "When you live in a place like this you're always planning your escape."

What I posted on Goodreads:  Horrifying story of three young people (12, 14, and 16) who make the arduous, perilous journey from their barrio in Guatemala to the U.S.

My comments: What a horrifying story!  Three young people (12, 14, 16) make the arduous journey from their barrio in Guatemala to the United States.  Their dreams are huge but reality is more than harsh.  One loses their life, the other two come very close.   Fleeing horrors like we can't imagine into different horrors that are just as fatal and terrifying.  It shows, with what I am sure is harsh accuracy, what happens to children that are caught on the border and detained in cages.  This was an extremely difficult book to read.  After living in southern Arizona for so many years, I can feel the heat of the desert and now that if I still lived there I would get up in the morning and go find an agency where I could physically actually do something to help the plight of these incredibly brave people. A hard book to get through and finish.  What a story.

Goodreads synopsis:  A ripped-from-the-headlines novel of desperation, escape, and survival across the U.S.-Mexico border.
          Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña have no false illusions about the town they've grown up in and the dangers that surround them. Though their families--both biological and found--create a warm community for them, threats lurk around every corner. And when those threats become all too real, the three teens know they have no choice but to run: for the border, for the hope of freedom, and for their very lives.
          Crossing from Guatemala through Mexico with their eyes on the U.S. border, they follow the route of La Bestia, a system of trains that promise the hope of freedom--if they are lucky enough to survive the harrowing journey. With nothing but the bags on their backs and the desperation that courses through their very veins, Pulga, Chico, and Pequeña know that there's no turning back, dangerous though the road ahead might be.
          In this powerful story inspired by real--and current--events, the plight at our southern border is brought to painful, poignant life. 

PICTURE BOOK - Desmond and the Very Mean Word by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Douglas Carlton Abrams

Illustrated by A. G Ford

2013, Candlewick Press

HC $15.99

32 pgs.

Goodreads rating: 4.13

My rating: 4.5

Endpapers:  Musty peach

Illustrations: Gorgeous, full-paged; big and real.  Love 'em.

1^st line/s:  "Desmond was very proud of his new bicycle.  He was the only child in the whole township who had one, and he couldn't wait to show it to Father Trevor."

My comments: This is a visually inspriring story of an incident in Desmond Tutu's youth.  It is a story of forgiveness - how very difficult it is to do, but how rewqrding it can also be.

Goodreads:  Based on a true story from Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s childhood in South Africa, Desmond and the Very Mean Word reveals the power of words and the secret of forgiveness.    
     When Desmond takes his new bicycle out for a ride through his neighborhood, his pride and joy turn to hurt and anger when a group of boys shout a very mean word at him. He first responds by shouting an insult, but soon discovers that fighting back with mean words doesn’t make him feel any better. With the help of kindly Father Trevor, Desmond comes to understand his conflicted feelings and see that all people deserve compassion, whether or not they say they are sorry. Brought to vivid life in A. G. Ford’s energetic illustrations, this heartfelt, relatable story conveys timeless wisdom about how to handle bullying and angry feelings, while seeing the good in everyone.

Because of You - B. G. Hennessy

Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata
Candlewick, 2005
24 pages
$15.99
Endpapers: Dark blue-aqua watercolors

One person CAN make a difference! This book should be read and shared at my school's next Passport to Peace event. It's simple:

"When you were born, there was a new person for your family to love and care for.

And because of you, there is one more person who can love and care for others."

Back and forth, this story tells how simple acts of kindness can be the beginning of peace in our world. Gentle. Simple.

The watercolors are an excellent model for kids that are beginning to use watercolors carefully and with detail.

Katy and the Big Snow - Virginia Lee Burton

Houghton Mifflin, 1943/1971
Brand new paperback edition has sparkly cover and STICKERS!
$6.99 paper
40 pages
My rating: 5

Virginia Lee Burton's picture books - over sixty years old - are stiill being published! The Little House, Mike Mulligan, Katy - this is incredibly cool, huh? And after reading Katy and the Big Snow again (it's been an incredibly long time) I know why.

There's a wavy border on every page. There's a compass rose on any page that shows the city of Geopolis. There are maps. There's excitement. There's a hero (heroine!)....

When a blizzard covers the city of Geopolis, big, strong Katy the bulldozer-with-a-plough is called out to help (to the rescue!)

The illustrations are primarily in aqua with black, red, yellow, green. and white as the only other touches of color. They're "old fashioned" and incredibly wonderful.