The Color of My Words

The Color of My Words

by Lynn Joseph

Genre: Juvenile Fiction

Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Ana Rosa is a blossoming writer growing up in the Dominican Republic, a country where words are feared.  Yet there is so much inspiration all around her-watching her brother search for a future, learning to dance and to love, and finding out what it means to be part of a community-that Ana Rosa must write it all down.  As she struggles to find her own voice and a way to make it heard, Ana Rosa realizes the power of her words to transform the world around her-and to transcend the most unthinkable of tragedies.

from the back of the book

Review: This story is a young girl who lives in the Dominican Republic who is a writer.  At the beginning of each chapter there is a poem about something from the chapter and they are beautifully written.  This story made me tear up more than once as I felt the hurt radiating from Ana Rosa.  This story is heartbreaking at times but is also full of life and culture.  There are several aspects of this story that make me hesitant to recommend it to elementary students one of which was drunkenness.  I felt like I could overlook the rum but with the other aspects, I decided I cannot use this book with my fifth and sixth grade students.  The reading level of this book is right for that age group but unless you have a mature group, I would recommend this to slightly older children.

Rating:  4 stars