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The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs. 288 p. Sourcebooks, September, 2021. 9781728234654. (Review of arc courtesy of the author.)
Happy Monday! I hope you enjoyed your weekend! We had a snow day here on Friday, so the weekend felt luxuriously long. Students have a scheduled long weekend next weekend for MLK's birthday. Teachers have a PD day.Middle Grade Monday features The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs. This historical fiction set in 1913 during the Mexican Revolution is based, in part on the author's family history.
Twelve-year-old Petra Luna gathers wood to sell in her village each day. She doesn't go to school. Neither she nor her father nor Abuelita read, but she longs to. Her mother died giving birth to her brother and her father has been conscripted by the Federales, who are brutally hunting down and quashing the revolutionaries. She promised her father that she would look after her grandmother, younger sister and baby brother until they could be reunited, but now the Federales have burned their village to the ground the the family are refugees heading north to the border and the U.S. How can she shepherd her remaining family across the desert on foot, with little money and scant knowledge of life outside of her village?
Readers will instantly root for the resilient Petra and become immersed in her dangerous trek. Though the Mexican Revolution happened over a hundred years ago, the continued plight of refugees all over the world makes this a timely novel to read today. There is an immediacy in Ms. Dobbs' writing, so much so that I often had to put the book down to take a break from the emotion that it evoked.
The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna is the author's debut. I recommend it highly-for fans of historical fiction and for any reader wishing to become more empathetic. Happy reading!
Twelve-year-old Petra Luna gathers wood to sell in her village each day. She doesn't go to school. Neither she nor her father nor Abuelita read, but she longs to. Her mother died giving birth to her brother and her father has been conscripted by the Federales, who are brutally hunting down and quashing the revolutionaries. She promised her father that she would look after her grandmother, younger sister and baby brother until they could be reunited, but now the Federales have burned their village to the ground the the family are refugees heading north to the border and the U.S. How can she shepherd her remaining family across the desert on foot, with little money and scant knowledge of life outside of her village?
Readers will instantly root for the resilient Petra and become immersed in her dangerous trek. Though the Mexican Revolution happened over a hundred years ago, the continued plight of refugees all over the world makes this a timely novel to read today. There is an immediacy in Ms. Dobbs' writing, so much so that I often had to put the book down to take a break from the emotion that it evoked.
The Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna is the author's debut. I recommend it highly-for fans of historical fiction and for any reader wishing to become more empathetic. Happy reading!
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