Papi's Gift
by Karen Stanton; illustrated by Rene King Moreno
Boyds Mills Press
Graciela's birthday's coming up, and her Papi is sending a box of goodies all the way from the United States to her dusty, drought-stricken home in Guatemala. Only her luck is pretty lousy. Not only did the drought send Papi away in search of work, but the promised box never arrives. And everywhere this poor, brokenhearted girl looks, she's reminded of her Papi weeping over the payphone, trying to sing a feeble "Happy Birthday."
Stanton doesn't go for the easy, Hollywood ending, but hints that things will get better. After all, if everything always worked out fine, there wouldn't be huge numbers of Papis eking out a living in farm fields across the U.S.
To paraphrase an old newspaper saying, a million Papis are a statistic--one Papi is a tragedy. The story humanizes the plight of those left behind by immigrants in a way no news story every could. We peer in on Graciela as she downgrades her expectations so that merely sighting a few clouds lifts her spirits. She re-learns how to hope, but without the text ever feeling didactic or moralizing.
King Moreno's pastels create soft edges and rounded contours, and draw their inspiration from the warm mix of colors associated with Guatemalan culture.
Rating: *\*\*\
Comments