Drawn from Pellegrino's work with Central American refugees, this dramatic novel opens in 1984, during the violent conflict between indigenous Guatemalans and the government, which (an author's note explains) resulted in the death of some 150,000 people and the destruction of hundreds of villages. More than 200,000 fled Guatemala, including narrator Tomasa, her father and two younger siblings, whose village burns as they escape. At once lyrical and starkly realistic, the tale chronicles this close-knit family's harrowing, furtive journey across their country, through Mexico and finally into the U.S. In the final stages, they are aided by Sanctuary Movement volunteers who shepherd refugees to safety. In Phoenix, the travelers have an emotional reunion with Tomasa's mother and older brother, Carlos, who both fled earlier, fearing Carlos would be forced to join the army. Fables Papa tells his children and Tomasa's dream sequences occasionally cause the pace to slacken, and Pellegrino's (Too Nice) imagery can be clunky ("The quiet in our village relaxes like a taut thread which has been cut"). Yet Tomasa's voice should easily draw readers into this eye-opening story. Ages 11-14. (Aug.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 5-8-Fleeing their burned village in the Guatemalan highlands, 13-year-old Tomasa, her two brothers, and her storytelling father make their way first to the capital and then north to Mexico City and across another border to Arizona. They reunite with her mother and another brother, who are safe thanks to the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s. Artistic Tomasa loves to sketch and to re-create her world in her weaving and embroidery. Through her narrative, readers can envision her family and village life as well as the sights of her journey from the mountains to the cities and north to America. This well-paced first-person account is full of suspenseful moments, but also psychologically convincing as the author shows Tomasa consciously burying her own emotions while her younger brother, Manuel, adopts another woman in place of the mother who left him behind to save her 14-year-old from the army. Although Tomasa's journey takes a year, the pace moves along quickly. Still, there is room to recount Guatemalan folktales and show many details of village life as well as the refugee experience. A short background explanation, a glossary, and a map complete this harrowing but ultimately hopeful immigration story based on the author's work with refugees.-Kathleen Isaacs, Children's Literature Specialist, Pasadena, MD Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

A modern-day Underground Railroad forms the drama in this stirring novel told from the viewpoint of a 13-year-old Mayan girl. In the early 1980s, Tomasa is forced with her family to flee military burning and slaughter in her mountain village in Guatemala and to seek refuge by traveling north. True to her anguished perspective, her present-tense narrative tells of her desperate journey with the coyote guides, who both help and betray fugitives as they cross desert, river, and mountains to Mexico City and, finally, the U.S. Based on Pellegrino's work with displaced refugees, the personal story is rooted in authentic detail of oppression, escape, and hope. Every episode ends with a magical-realism connection rooted in Tomasa's culture, and these dream sequences don't always work. But readers will be held by the escape story, and they'll be gripped even more by the family heartbreak of separation, the climax of reunion, and the kindness and courage that counteract the cruelty.--Rochman, Hazel Copyright 2009 Booklist From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.