Grade 5 Up-As the best student in the class, Celiane is given a "sweet little book" in which she decides to keep a journal. Her entries date from October 2000 to March 2001, and chronicle the family's departure from their homeland of Haiti to join her father, who had immigrated to New York City five years earlier. In graceful prose, Danticat seamlessly weaves together all that such a decision involves: the difficulties of rural life on the island and a longing for an absent parent combined with a fondness for her tiny mountain village with "the rainbows during sun showers- the smell of pinewood burning, the golden-brown sap dripping into the fire"; and the excitement and violence of Port-au-Prince where Celiane and her mother are injured in bombings before the elections. When Celiane, her mother, and her 19-year-old brother are finally approved to enter the U.S., the teen knows everything will be all right as soon as she sees her father, but there are the unavoidable frictions among family members, fueled not only by the separation and adjustment to a new country, but also by the natural maturing process that the children undergo. In this gem of a book, Danticat explores the modern immigrant experience through the eyes of one teen.
In this novel, part of the First Person Fiction series, 13-year-old Celiane recounts her journey from her mountain village in Haiti to join her father in Brooklyn in a "charming, innocent voice," according to PW. Ages 11-15. (Feb.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
A 13-year-old Haitian girl describes, over the course of five months, her life in Haiti and then in New York as she, her mother, and her brother join her father, who left Haiti years before. Celiane loves her life in the mountain village of Beau Jour; she is near her grandparents, the mountains agree with her, and she is the recent recipient of a journal from her teacher—because she is such a good writer. The only hole in her life is that left by her father, who sends a cassette tape addressing each family member in turn, but from whom she feels increasingly estranged by time and distance. When the bus she and her mother are riding in gets blown up in pre-election violence—the year is 2000, and Jean-Bertrand Aristide is running for re-election—the effort to reunite with her father moves into high gear. Her Tante Rose, a nurse, pulls some diplomatic strings, and suddenly they are all together in New York. This is Danticat’s (After the Dance, p. 782, etc.) first novel for children, and it shares with others that have gone before it a tendency to write down to the audience. The diary entries are by and large flat; Celiane writes of the violence in curiously disengaged tones, considering that she and her mother are victims. Likewise, when the narrative moves to New York, the upheaval this creates for the family is related from a distance, despite the supposed current nature of the diary: "It wasn’t anything [Papa] said, just the way his face looked, tightly drawn and strained. Perhaps we, especially me, were going to be more of a burden to him than he had first thought." It is unfortunate that there are so few children’s novels of Haiti that this offering naturally begscomparison to Frances Temple’s electrifying A Taste of Salt (1992). This, alas, is a pale successor. (Fiction. 9-14)
Praise for Behind the Mountains:
"The excellence of the writing and the resilient outlook of both first-person fictions set a high standard for this series." — The Horn Book
Praise for Anacaona, Golden Flower:
"Readers will connect with Danticat's immediate, poetic language." — Booklist
Praise for Untwine:
NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Literary Work
2015 VOYA Magazine Perfect Ten
CCBC Choices List selection
Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year, 2016
New York Public Library Best Books for Teens selection
"I fell in love with Untwine . It's a book I want to give my daughter, my sister, my best friend. Danticat is a master." — Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming
"A genuinely moving exploration of the pain of separation." — The New York Times Book Review
* "Danticat... shines in this young adult novel... A bit mystery, a bit romance... a touch of humor, well-crafted characters and strong writing make this a book to recommend." — School Library Journal , starred review
"This tale of grief and resilience should appeal to people who love Danticat's fiction for adults, too[.] Danticat takes several staples of young imaginations (and some old ones, too) — and spins something beautiful yet down to earth out of each one. While Danticat fully grounds Giselle in her identity as a Haitian-American teen in Miami, this gentle young artist could speak to any teen anywhere coping with a major loss." — The Philadelphia Inquirer
*"At once heartbreaking and uplifting." — Publishers Weekly , starred review
"An honest, endearing exploration of family, grief, and perseverance." — Kirkus Reviews
Author Edwidge Danticat narrates the introduction and afterword of her novel, providing context by relating her own immigrant experience and feelings about her heroine. Taking over to narrate the story, Ella Turenne uses a youthful voice and light French accent to portray Celiane, a Haitian girl. The violence taking place in her country takes center stage when she and her mother are almost killed in a bombing while visiting an aunt in Port-au-Prince. Turenne contrasts the comfort Celiane feels in her rural home and school with her longing to be reunited with her father in Brooklyn. Turenne also expresses the worsening anxiety of Celiane’s mother and the love of the aunt who helps the family reunite. In New York, Celiane is surprised by the cold weather, school issues, and the tensions in her family. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile
Author Edwidge Danticat narrates the introduction and afterword of her novel, providing context by relating her own immigrant experience and feelings about her heroine. Taking over to narrate the story, Ella Turenne uses a youthful voice and light French accent to portray Celiane, a Haitian girl. The violence taking place in her country takes center stage when she and her mother are almost killed in a bombing while visiting an aunt in Port-au-Prince. Turenne contrasts the comfort Celiane feels in her rural home and school with her longing to be reunited with her father in Brooklyn. Turenne also expresses the worsening anxiety of Celiane’s mother and the love of the aunt who helps the family reunite. In New York, Celiane is surprised by the cold weather, school issues, and the tensions in her family. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile
