Mikaelsen, Ben. Red midnight.HarperTrophy 212p. c2002. 0-380-80561-8. $5.99. J To quote KLIATT's July 2002 review of the hardcover edition: Mikaelsen (author of Touching Spirit Bear) tells a dramatic story of a 12-year-old boy and his little sister as they escape the violence in their Guatemalan village and manage to sail up the coast to take refuge in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. . It's hard to believe Santiago is only 12 since he has the judgment and strength of a much older boy, so I don't think his age will limit the readership of this novel. The story is based on the events during the civil war in Guatemala in the 1980s, when the government forces tried to rid the country of rebels and in the process destroyed a lot of villages and killed many civilians. The book starts with the horror of Santiago's village being attacked, his parents and siblings killed before his eyes, his grabbing of his 4-year-old sister Angelina and their frantic escape. So begins the adventure. And it is quite an adventure as the children navigate their little boat, with a sail and a paddle, up the coast past Belize and the Yucatan, into the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east and to the shores of America. Everything is against them: storms, pirates, you name it. This is a nonstop HP's brand name for its fault-tolerant servers, which range in size from four CPUs to 4,000 CPUs. The NonStop line was created by Tandem Computers, which was acquired by Compaq, which later became part of HP. survival-adventure tale in the mode of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet hatchet: see tomahawk. and the like. Younger YAs will like it for that reason. It is a bit difficult to believe two children could make this voyage, and that once on the beach in the States that the immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. officials would allow them to stay. Still--suspend this disbelief and find a riveting riv·et·ing adj. Wholly absorbing or engrossing one's attention; fascinating: The last chapter was so riveting that I was reading past midnight. , well-told story. |
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