Eight Days
All The Way To Havana
"I was brave, I was told then, but when the earth shook again and again, I was afraid. And sometimes I cried because I missed Mamman and Papa and my little sister, Justine. But in my mind, I played."
Edwidge Danticat's Eight Days: A Story Of Haiti is a tale of survival and resilience. Junior (7) is trapped under his home after an earthquake. It takes people eight days to dig him out. All that time alone in darkness and silence. I don't know about you, but I would have totally panicked. Instead he imagines himself doing the things he enjoys: flying kites with his best friend (who he somehow knows will never wake up again), helping his father, playing soccer...
In her author's note Danticat tells us: "The earthquake on January 12, 2010, dramatically changed their lives. Many watched loved ones die. Others, like Junior, were stuck in the rubble of their homes...Yet in spite of everything, Haiti's children can still dream. They laugh. They live. They love."
Classic car fans as well as car loving kids will find Margarita Engle's literary road trip, All The Way To Havana, lovingly illustrated by Mike Curato, to be a real treat.
Believe it or not, many of the cars in Cuba today rolled off the assembly line before 1959. And they are still running because of the tenacity and ingenuity of their owners who patch, rewire, and swap out parts in ways more spoiled American consumers would never think of.
A boy and his family take a long drive to see a new born cousin. Cara Cara, their car, doesn't sound right. So dad and son must get under the hood and tinker before the clan can set off. Neighbors who need a ride join them. En route they see quite a few carefully cared for antique automobiles.
I bet you can guess what father and son will be doing the next day.
BTW there is a real Cara Cara, a '54 Chevy. You can see the photo in the illustrator's note. Visiting Cuba to research the book, he rode to Havana and back in her just like the family in the story.
In her author's note Engle says: "This simple poem about the island's noisy old cars is intended as an expression of admiration for the everyday ingenuity of poor people everywhere who have to struggle, persevere, create, and invent on a daily basis, never losing hope."
How about taking this fine book for a test read?
On a purrrsonal note, we had some drama at Hilltop today. It was nearly the end of my shift. Luckily our lunch crowd had departed. I heard loud alarms and headed for the nearest door. Firefighters were running in and telling us to evacuate right away. We sat at the tables on the patio in front of Hilltop. Suddenly there were all these EMTs, probably every one on campus. There was carbon monoxide in the building so they had to test everyone to see if they had to take us to the hospital. Of course I was fine. (Jules)
Thank goodness she was fine. (Tobago)
A great big shout out goes out to all the EMTs who hustled over on like a moment's notice.
Tobago and Jules Hathaway
Sent from my U.S.Cellular© Smartphone
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