Beautifully told, this is a heart rending story of one family’s fight for survival following the destruction of their home and everything they know by the Guatemalan army. Capturing the desperate fear that the army instil in the small mountain community, Tomasa tells how first her mother and brother flee into hiding in order to stay safe and then how the rest of the family set out on a long, long journey to find safety as refugees in the US. Tomasa’s story tells of kindness and sympathy as well as cruelty and provides an inspiring picture of courage.
This is the story of how one family survives the Guatemalan army's 'scorched earth' campaign in the 1980s and how, in the midst of tragedy, suspicion and fear, their resilient love and loyalty - and Papa's storytelling - keeps them going. On their harrowing journey as refugees to the United States, the dramatic ebb and flow of events are mirrored in the tapestries of one daughter's dreams.
Marge Pellegrino read Psychology at Marist College, New York. She is a journalist and book reviewer, runs writing workshops and has been Writer in Residence at a number of US elementary and high schools. Her children's books include Too Nice, My Grandma's the Mayor and I Don't have an Uncle Phil Anymore. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.
Marge’s writing won the SouthWest Writers’ Storyteller Award in 2002 and her poetry won a prize in Sandscript literary journal. She also won a AZ Press Club award for a personality profile about Ted DeGrazia written for Tucson Guide in 2008.
