Demetria Martinez

score! 50c op shop find today.

Lyrical & poetic, it's like silk and barb wire caressing your heart. Brings to life the heartache of refugees from El Salvador and the war there in the 80's. Based partly on the authors experiences helping the underground railroad of refugees out of El Salvador, it's an easy and quick read. Contains poetry from various Latin Americans and is written via the voices of several characters and three generations and at it's heart is love and justice. Most of the show more details of the politics and atrocities cited are true although woven around the fictional characters. If you know nothing of the horrors committed in the Salvadoran civil war....the film "Salvador" (1986) directed by Oliver Stone & starring James Wood, is a good place to start. (if you get the DVD version with extras the 62 minute documentary "Into the Valley of Death" is also insightful. While the Salvadoran war fades into history the impact of that still resonates today with the people it has touched. With so many countries tightening their borders these days (including Australia against the influx of "boat people") one has to reflect back on situations like El Salvador and be mindful that we don't cast all refugees into an enemy role. show less

This book is a story about a burnt tortilla, and how children’s imaginations can be powerful and creative as they conjure up several images in the tortilla’s scorched markings. There are several aspects of this book that I like, but I am disappointed with the irrelevance of some of the illustrations to the text. To start, I like how the entire story is written in both English and Spanish. Opposing pages are completely filled with text in both languages, with one illustration that usually show more ties them together. I like how there is a glossary at the beginning of the book, which defines Spanish words that are used in the story such as anteojos, lumber, and zacate. I like how the reader needs to use context to understand the meaning of certain Spanish words. Hijitos, which I have deduced is an affectionate term for “grandchildren” or “kids”, is used throughout the book in both the English and Spanish text, but not defined in the glossary. Unfortunately, I found myself a little confused with some of the illustrations. On pages 4 and 5, the illustration is of a rat being chased by a cat, being chased by a dog, being chased by another rat. Of all that is written about on those pages, the only text having anything to do with animals is when Grandpa states “Our barnyard animals need breakfast, too.” The illustration on these pages, to me, stretches mightily to match the story. show less

The main thing I enjoyed about this book was the fact that it was written in both Spanish and English. The beginning of the book contained a glossary with Spanish words and their English translation. This book could be used in both an English class during a Social Studies unit, or a Spanish class to teach vocabulary. The length of this book was longer than I expected, and would definitely be used for higher primary grades. I didn't enjoy the pictures because I didn't think they enhanced the show more story very much. While the text is in both English and Spanish, the English portion still contains some Spanish words. The pictures could have been used to help reinforce concepts and words that students may have had difficulty with, but a lot of the pictures were similar with the same color schemes and did not reflect on the action going on in the book. The characters were believable and realistic, but I did think the story went on a bit too long. Overall, I think it was a clever book that was a positive representation of Hispanic culture. show less

An exquisite little novel, full of human longing, about a young Hispanic woman who falls in love with a refugee from the war in El Salvador in the 1980s.

Mary/Maria is a young single woman, living in Albuquerque, working at dull jobs, and feeling her life is without meaning. Then she agrees to help and hide a young man escaping from the U.S.-supported violence in El Salvador. She immediately falls in love with the stranger and gradually finds her love returned. Looking back from the show more perspective of twenty years, she is the primary narrator of their summer together and her life since.

Read more on my blog: me, you and books
http://mdbrady.wordpress.com/2012/04/03/mother-tongue-by-demetria-martinez/ show less