Portland Public Library

Jimena Pérez puede volar, por Jorge Argueta ; ilustraciones de Fabricio Vanden Broeck ; traducción al inglés de Elizabeth Bell = Jimena Pérez can fly / by Jorge Argueta ; illustrations by Fabricio Vanden Broeck ; English translation by Elizabeth Bell

spa

illustrations

no index present

Ages 10-15, Arte Público Press / Piñata Books

Grades 7-9, Arte Público Press / Piñata Books

fiction

Jimena Pérez puede volar

1107803632

por Jorge Argueta ; ilustraciones de Fabricio Vanden Broeck ; traducción al inglés de Elizabeth Bell = Jimena Pérez can fly / by Jorge Argueta ; illustrations by Fabricio Vanden Broeck ; English translation by Elizabeth Bell

Accelerated Reader, MG, 3.8, 0.5, Quiz No. 508855 EN Fiction

Ten-year-old Jimena loves El Salvador but when gangs threaten to force her to join, she and her mother immigrate to the United States, but are separated at the border"Ten-year-old Jimena Pérez loves life with her parents in El Salvador. They sell fruit at the market, just like her grandmother and great grandmother did. "Fruits / are a blessing / like you, Jimena," her mother tells her. But one day a group of boys threaten her friend Rosenda at school. "You know / what will happen / to your family / if you don't join us." Jimena's parents, afraid gangs will try to recruit her too, decide she must go to the United States with her mother. She is excited and fearful, and doesn't want to leave her father, friends and dog Sultán. "I felt sad / the way fruit looks / when it's past ripeness." By bus, train and on foot, mother and daughter make their way north, until one night, bright lights fill the sky and men in green uniforms rip Jimena from her mother. Imprisoned with children from El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico, Jimena and the others cry for their parents. One boy repeats over and over, "My father's name is Marcos / He is in Los Angeles." A box full of books brings her some solace, reminding her of the ones donated to kids at the market in El Salvador. "The letters kiss me / like my mama's words / like my papa's words / I am a little bird / Nothing can stop me / I can fly." In this poignant narrative poem for kids ages 10-15, award-winning Salvadoran poet Jorge Argueta movingly captures the fear that drives so many Central Americans to flee their countries and the anguish created by separating children from their parents at the US border. Putting a human face on the millions of people who flee their homelands each year, this book will help young people understand the difficulties of migration and leaving behind all that is dear." -- Publisher's description

juvenile

Jimena Pérez can fly