Paloma's Song for Puerto Rico: A Diary from 1898

by Adriana Erin Rivera, Eugenia Nobati (Illustrator)

Overview

Created in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of the American Latino, Nuestras Voces shares inspiring Latino stories. It is 1898, and twelve-year-old Paloma lives in Puerto Rico with her Papi, Mami, and little brother, Jorge. They are coffee farmers, and Paloma loves the chickens and fruit trees that she helps to care for. She also loves music—the song of the coquí frogs who sing her to sleep, and the melodies from Papi’s tiple guitar. But Paloma’s world begins to change when war arrives on Puerto Rico’s shores. What will happen to their culture, the island? As Paloma and her family navigate changes they can’t control, they hold tightly to each other and hope for a better future. In diary format, the Nuestras Voces series profiles inspiring characters and honors the joys, challenges, and outcomes of Latino experiences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781669012610
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	01/08/2023
Series:	Nuestras Voces
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Adriana Erin Rivera is a New York-based author of Puerto Rican descent. Her writing has been published in the New York Metro, Latina Magazine, and Footwear News. She is also a singer and songwriter and has written theatrical pieces that have been performed on New York City stages. A magna cum laude graduate of the Fashion Institute of Technology, she holds a bachelor’s degree in Advertising and Marketing Communications. Her debut novel Swing Sets, a coming-of-age story, was inspired by her own inner child. Adriana loves to travel and always enjoys visiting Puerto Rico.

Eugenia Nobati was born in Buenos Aires, where she still lives and works.

She starts as a Graphic Designer until 1998 when she decides to dedicate herself exclusively to Illustration.

Since then she has been drawing and painting everything from postage stamps to packaging, character design and animation backgrounds. Specialized in illustration of children's books, her work has been published in nine countries and more than fifty books.

Interviews

New series, created in close collabotation with curators at Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of the American Latino, that brings American Latino history to life in the form of fictional diaries;

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2023

Gr 3–5—A young Puerto Rican girl witnesses her island's transition from Spanish colony to U.S. territory in this richly detailed historical fiction novel. Twelve-year-old Paloma's diary entries express the hopes and fears of her entire homeland as war for control of Puerto Rico reaches her coffee farm home. Will the new U.S. regime preserve native culture and offer self-rule? The answer comes in the novel's final chapter, set 27 years ahead in 1925, as adult Paloma—now living in New York City—reflects on the fate of her family and the impact of U.S. rule. The Puerto Rico of Paloma's youth is vividly realized, from the mango trees and chickens she tends to the colorful bustle of the marketplace where her family sells eggs and plantains. Spanish terms are woven throughout the narrative, a bit unevenly: some terms are defined as part of the narrative, some through grayscale spot art, some in the glossary. Additional back matter includes discussion questions and a QR code link to Smithsonian Museum resources on Puerto Rican history. Publisher notes indicate this is the first entry in a series depicting key moments in American history from a young Latinx character's perspective. VERDICT Ideal as a classroom read-aloud and recommended for libraries seeking to expand their collection on Latinx history and culture.—Marybeth Kozikowski

School Library Journal