The Color of My Words

July 31, 2000
In finely wrought chapters that at times read more like a collection of related short stories than a novel, Joseph (Jump Up Time) presents slices from the life of Ana Rosa just as she is about to turn 13. Through the heroine's poetry and recollections, readers gain a rare intimate view of life in the Dominican Republic. Ana Rosa dreams of becoming a writer even though no one but the president writes books; she learns to dance the merengue by listening to the rhythms of her beloved ocean; and the love of her older brother, Guario, comforts her through many difficulties. The author's portraits of Ana Rosa and her family are studies in spare language; the chapters often grow out of one central image--such as the gri gri tree where Ana Rosa keeps watch over her village and gets ideas for her writing--giving the novel the feel of an extended prose poem. The brevity of the chapters showcases Joseph's gift for metaphoric language (e.g., her description of Ana Rosa's first crush: "My dark eyes trailed him like a line of hot soot wherever he went"). When the easy rhythms of the girl's island life abruptly change due to two major events, the author develops these cataclysms so subtly that readers may not feel the impact as fully as other events, such as the heroine's unrequited love. Still, it's a testimony to the power of Joseph's writing that the developments readers will empathize with most are those of greatest importance to her winning heroine. Ages 8-12.

Starred review from October 15, 2000
Gr. 4-6. The author of "A Wave in Her Pocket" (1991) and other picture books set in Trinidad moves to the Dominican Republic for her first novel. Ana Rosa may not have her eye fixed on the future the way her beloved big brother, Guario, does, but as she's already filling every available scrap of paper with poems and stories, her vocation is clear. In simple but eloquent verse and prose, she introduces her family and her small, tightly knit community as she recounts pivotal events in her twelfth year, from a first crush to learning that her rum-and-"merengue"-loving Papi isn't her real father. Then news comes that the whole neighborhood is going to be razed to make way for a tourist hotel. Led by Guario, all band together to protest, but on Ana Rosa's thirteenth birthday the bulldozers arrive, with soldiers to defend them, and she sees Guario shot down. Unlike Frances Temple's "Taste of Salt" (1992), set in neighboring Haiti, this is less an indictment of a violent, corrupt, repressive regime than a coming-of-age story, propelled as much by the joy of finding the right words and capturing them on paper as by past or present tragedy. In the end, the words that had deserted Ana Rosa at her brother's death begin to sing inside her again, and with a new sense of purpose she resolves to use them to tell her brother's story. \plain\f2\fs17 (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)

August 24, 2000
Gr 5-8-Joseph paints the world of Ana Rosa and her family in this gem of a novel. The girl dreams of being a writer, but knows that this is a very unusual wish in the Dominican Republic. Like her ever-drinking father, she is a dreamer, but like her Mami, who fears for her daughter's safety if she writes, she learns that time is like the river that rushes by and never passes again. When the government tries to destroy the houses in the village to make room for foreign investors, Ana Rosa writes an article quoting her beloved older brother, Guario, and tries to get support for protecting their homes. Her article is distributed by three newspapers, but her words are not powerful enough to divert money, contracts, bulldozers, and guns. On her 13th birthday, the government troops arrive, shooting begins, and Guario is killed. Six months later, as a late birthday celebration, Ana Rosa receives a typewriter and hundreds of sheets of white paper. Now she has her brother's story to tell and the words are filling up her head. Although Ana Rosa lives in a Caribbean country, readers everywhere will connect with her story, especially those who have dreams, disappointments, tragedy, environmental concerns, and a love of words and writing. Each chapter opens with a poem that sets the mood. A finely crafted novel, lovely and lyrical, this book is a unique addition to library shelves.-Helen Foster James, University of California at San Diego

Copyright 2000 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2001
Writing is as essential to Ana Rosa as breathing, yet--at only twelve--she knows her talent puts her in peril in the Repzblica Dominicana. As Papi bitterly observes, only President Balaguer may write books here. Ana Rosa's economically phrased first-person narrative is eloquent with imagery in this poetically structured, vividly imagined book about striving for freedom under an oppressive regime.

(Copyright 2001 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)