Sacred Leaf

by Deborah Ellis

Overview

USBBY Oustanding International Books selection

After he finally manages to escape from being a virtual slave in an illegal cocaine operation, Diego is taken in by the Ricardo family -- poor coca farmers who provide a safe haven while he recovers from his ordeal in the jungle. But even that brief respite comes to an end when the army moves in and destroys the family's coca crop -- and their livelihood.

Diego eventually joins the cocaleros as they protest the destruction of their crops by barricading the roads, confronting the army head on. As tension between the cocaleros builds to a dramatic standoff, the wonders whether he will ever find a way to return to his family.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781554980369
Publisher:	Groundwood Books Ltd
Publication date:	09/01/2007
Series:	The Cocalero Novels , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	208
Lexile:	770L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

DEBORAH ELLIS is the author of The Breadwinner, which has been published in thirty languages. She has won the Governor General’s Award, the Middle East Book Award, the Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award. A recipient of the Order of Canada, Deborah has donated more than $2 million in royalties to organizations such as Canadian Women for Women in Afghanistan, Mental Health Without Borders and the UNHCR. She lives in Simcoe, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 5-8
This sequel to I Am a Taxi (Groundwood, 2006) opens with Diego, about 12 years old, living in the hinterlands of Bolivia, where he has been taken in by the kindly Ricardo family. They, like his unjustly imprisoned parents, are cocaleros, poor farmers whose cash crop is coca. He makes himself as useful as possible, and only Bonita Ricardo, who is about his age, resents him and wishes him gone. Soon, soldiers arrive and destroy their crop. Their dreams for a better future dashed, the Ricardos find themselves taking part in a nationwide protest. Joining their neighbors to block the only road through the area, Diego and the Ricardos work together to maintain solidarity and deal with rising tensions as the army threatens increasing force to reopen the road. Three climactic events follow as Diego waves a white flag to get help for an injured friend, then he and Bonita rush to stop an ill-advised attack on the soldiers. In the final pages, Diego exacts a measure of revenge on the men who had, among other things, killed his friend Mando, as explained in a two-page "The story so far . . . " that brings readers up to speed on events from the first book. An easy read that touches on issues seldom addressed for young teens such as third-world subsistence farming, Spanish/Indian cultural conflict, and the U.S. culpability in driving the international drug trade, this novel might work particularly well where differentiated (lower-reading level) texts on such subjects are needed.
—Joel ShoemakerCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Bolivians have long consumed coca leaves, the raw ingredient in cocaine, as a mild stimulant tea to minimize the effects of hunger and altitude sickness. In this fast-paced addition to her series about cocaleros, Bolivian subsistence coca farmers, Ellis continues to follow Diego, 12, and others caught up and mangled in the global war on drugs. At the end of I Am a Taxi (2006), Diego found sanctuary with a family of cocaleros. Soon the Bolivian army arrives and destroys the family's crops and livelihood. Bereft, they join a cocaleros' protest. Tension builds as angry families, including infants and the elderly, blockade a highway and face down an increasingly frustrated army. Diego is torn between supporting the farmers and longing to return to his own family in Cochabamba. Ethical issues are conveyed powerfully, but without preaching. Characters on both sides-an army captain, torn between job and support for his community, reckless young radicals in search of excitement-are vividly rendered. Humor leavens the mix. An exciting story that confronts young readers with a very different kind of childhood. (Fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews

Ellis sketches believable, well-delineated characters in very few words: in Diego, grief and decency, eagerness to help and desire for affection comingle appealingly...a remarkably compact blend of character and engaging, dramatic events...a good choice for reluctant readers.

Toronto Star

It's a dramatic story that manages the nuances...

Kliatt

This compassionate account of the lives of the working poor makes us care deeply about the characters, both children and adults, because their struggles have a human face. Strikingly, the children are as integral to the success of the blockade as the adults, and no one belittles their support. Ellis portrays adults who truly respect the part that children can play in the world and children who believe that they can make a, difference. This ultimately makes Sacred Leaf a powerful work of fiction for young readers.

Quill & Quire

...middle school readers possessing a developing social conscience will recognize that Ellis is really telling a story that has a much greater significance beyond just this one isolated happening.

CM Magazine

Based on historical events in Bolivia's history, this realistic fiction novel contains enough adventure to draw reluctant readers while providing important information that is little know by today's youth. Highly recommended.

Reforma

...Ellis brings the events themselves alive...[readers] will be sorry to say goodbye.

Paper Tigers