ALA Booklist (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Maya activist and 1992 Nobel Peace Prize winner Menchu, with assistance from Guatemalan National Literature laureate Liano, offers a memoir of her girlhood in the Indian village of Chimel, in Guatemala. Each short chapter tells a story that adds to the broadening picture of history of the village and the everyday life and beliefs of its people. An early story tells of the writer's grandfather literally sweeping his intended bride off her feet and carrying her away to start a new village. Another anecdote provides vivid sensory details of an afternoon spent picking and eating forbidden blackberries, while still another gives a straightforward description of and the meaning behind the traditional practice of burning a baby's umbilical cord and the mother's placenta. Created with strong, primitive forms and vibrant colors, full-page oil paintings brighten half the double-page spreads and provide memorable scenes of Chimel through three generations. Providing a rare firsthand account of Guatemalan village life, this translated book is a good choice for students curious about the Maya as well as those seeking to complete the perennial memoir assignment.

Horn Book (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

In these autobiographical anecdotes, Nobel laureate Menchú retells family history and legend from her childhood in a Guatemalan Mayan village. Her writing evokes a world of wild, friendly magic, but she also hints at distant political violence. Richly colored Mayan-style illustrations underscore the cheerful fusion of myth and memory. The stories' unfamiliar rhythm and logic lend them their distinctive voice. Glos.

Kirkus Reviews (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

The Nobel Peace Prizewinner offers a set of disconnected episodes from an idyllic Guatemalan childhood, occasionally animated by poetic flights of language—"My grandfather walked and walked. What was he looking for? No one knows. He would swallow trails and leave behind the remains of goldfinch songs"—briefly retold folktales and references to Mayan beliefs that are more allusive than descriptive. Domi, best known as the illustrator of Subcommandante Marcos' Story of Colors (1999), adds full-page, folk-art style scenes in glowing colors, featuring totemic animals and stylized figures with strangely crude features; the effect is as atmospheric as the text. Younger readers may find the tales, and some of the anecdotes, of interest, but adults will respond most strongly to these misty reminiscences—and to the poignant undertone added by Menchu's hints of ensuing troubled times. (Autobiography. 8-10)

School Library Journal (Wed Jul 06 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

Gr 5 Up-A human-rights activist and native Guatemalan tells stories about her grandparents, parents, and herself. She makes clear the cultural importance of the land and its animals, and describes indigenous life in detail. The book focuses on the time before the 36-year war in her native land. Although the reminiscences have value and some beautiful language, the writing is disorganized and the book does not read smoothly. Part of this may be attributed to translation, but in reality, the scattered bits and pieces of ideas do not come together anywhere, least of all at the end. Domi's beautiful illustrations of people and animals do more to make connections than the text.-Kate McGowen, Topsham Public Library, ME Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.