The Color of My Words
What 12-year-old Ana Rosa H&egrave;rnandez wants more than anything is a  notepad of her very own. Writing is her passion, and words flow out of her  pencil onto the paper bags that Papi brings his rum home in, onto napkins, onto  gray shop paper. In the Rep&uacute;blica Dominicana, however, only the President  can write books. But as Mami sighs and says, "Ana Rosa, there always has to be a  first person to do something." These supportive words are difficult for her  mother to muster, as everyone on the island knows too well that writers do not  have freedom of expression--and in their political climate "silence was  self-defense."When the chilling news arrives that the government wants to buy all the land in  the village to build hotels and generate more tourism, people learn what it  means to break their silence. Ana Rosa's handsome 19-year-old brother Guario  H&egrave;rnandez is appointed as official spokesperson for the villagers' cause,  but when an out-and-out rebellion against the government erupts, he--and  everyone else--is endangered. As the bulldozers roll in, Ana Rosa and her family  discover how utterly worthless words really are in the face of brute force.Lynn Joseph paints a vibrant, colorful landscape of this Caribbean island where  love, warmth of community, and abundant natural beauty soften the kind of  poverty that makes paper--and sometimes doing what you think is right--a luxury.  Ana Rosa's engaging, heartfelt poems--"Merengue Dream," "My Brother's  Friend"--begin every chapter, setting the tone of the events to follow, and  reinforcing how words shape her life and how her life shapes her words. Young  readers will be inspired by Ana Rosa's drive and talent, warmed by vivid stories  of her close-knit family, and moved by those who fight for what's right at the  greatest possible cost. This lovely, lyrical book dances the merengue, glimmers  with sunshine, and sways with island breezes. (Ages 10 and older)--Karin  Snelson--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.