Broken Promises

by Anita Perez Ferguson

Overview

2022 SFWC YA Fiction Writing Contest Winner

"The tightly

wound plot flows effortlessly from one moment to the next.... readers will find themselves inspired by the future Sparrow creates for herself and those around

her." - Kirkus Reviews

"Young Sparrow's dilemma had me wondering how she was going to make her way through such a tension-filled situation. I could almost see her growing up, finding unexpected allies, and using her mama's native skills as she faced the political firestorm of the 1840s in California." -Stephanie Foster, author of Take Action: Fighting for Women & Girls

In 1844, fifteen-year-old Sparrow fears what dilemmas her grown-up life will encounter. Sparrow's mother is from the Chumash nation whose territory borders the Pacific. Her father is an American trapper and trader sent by his government to explore the rich California land owned by Mexico.

Sparrow's difficulties are compounded when she learns her father also has an American wife and daughter. Then, she overhears him making plans to overthrow the Mexican Governor of Alta California and acquire the Mexican lands for the United States.

Sparrow's tribal family and indigenous customs are threatened. She must decide if she will keep her father's secret and lose her homeland, or warn her mother and the Mexican authorities but suffer the loss of her father's love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780967330082
Publisher:	Luz Publications
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Series:	Mission Bells , #3
Pages:	190
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.44(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Perez Ferguson is a cross-cultural educator and consultant. Her fiction brings to life the voices of California inhabitants living 200 years ago. Her non-fiction promotes the voices of under-represented communities in the twenty-first century. This earned her the 2014 Lacayo Lifetime Achievement Award from the United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. She is an Advisor and Former Chair for the InterAmerican Foundation and a Visiting Lecturer for the Council for Independent Colleges. She enjoys living and writing on the Pacific coast.

Editorial Reviews

2023-03-09
A young Indigenous woman must find a way forward as forces threaten her family, home, and history in Ferguson’s historical YA novel.

In 19th-century Alta California, in the era of the Mexican-American War, Sparrow, a Chumash teenager, and her mother, Nina, a seasoned healer who preserves her family’s customs, live on the property of the Tenorios, a wealthy Mexican family. The Tenorios employ her mother and treat Sparrow with the affection befitting a second family. However, when Sparrow finds her estranged White father implicated in an American plot to wrest Alta California from the Mexican governor’s control, she finds her future, loyalties, and perception of herself cast into doubt. Conspiring with the colorful cast of Tenorios, Sparrow undertakes a journey to protect not just her family and their territory but the fundamental rights and humanity of all Indigenous peoples. Though she loses much in the process, readers will find themselves inspired by the future Sparrow creates for herself and those around her. The prose can read drily—in the wake of the rejection, guilt, and general turmoil Sparrow suffers in relation to her estranged father, the emotional impact of their eventual reunion is signaled only by the blunt remark that his “words rebuilt Sparrow’s hope that he wanted to share his life with her.” But the novel provides a necessary look at historical events and peoples that have often been ignored in fiction (and in real life). The tightly wound plot flows effortlessly from one moment to the next, never leaving readers disengaged or in the dark. Sparrow is not a fully developed protagonist and at times her actions seem subject to the whims of the story. Nevertheless, the reader will feel compelled to follow her journey from girlhood to adulthood and self-determination, wishing her well at each step. Critically, the novel does not paper over the abuse, exploitation, or erasure of Indigenous people at the hands of colonial forces while remaining suitable for its audience.

A simple, plot-driven read that introduces younger readers to underrepresented characters and histories.

Kirkus Reviews