Grab Hands and Run - Hardcover

Temple, Frances

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0531054802 ISBN 13: 9780531054802

Publisher: Orchard Books, 1993

Synopsis

After his father disappears, twelve-year-old Felipe, his mother, and his younger sister set out on a difficult and dangerous journey, trying to make their way from their home in El Salvador to Canada

About this title

About the Author:

Frances Temple grew up in Virginia, France, and Vietnam. About her third book she wrote, "The Ramsay Scallop is about our need for adventure and motion, for throwing in with strangers, trusting and listening. The story began to take form in northern Spain along pilgrim trails; was fed by histories, stories, letters, by the testimony of a fourteenthcentury shepherd, by the thoughts of today's pilgrims. Concerns echo across years-clean water, good talk, risks welcomed, the search for a peaceful heart. Traveling in Elenor's shoes, I found out how strongly the tradition of pilgrimage continues."Ms. Temple received many honors during her distinguished career. Her other critically acclaimed books for young people include: FranceTaste of Salt A Story of Modern Haiti, winner of the 1993 Jane Addams Children's Book Award; Grab hands and Run, cited by SchoolLibrary journal as one of the Best Books of 1993; and Tonight, by Sea another novel set in Haiti.

From Kirkus Reviews:

The author of a fine first novel about recent events in Haiti (Taste of Salt, 1992) depicts an El Salvadoran family fleeing to Canada. Felipe, 12, overhears his activist father Jacinto tell his mother Paloma, ``If they come for me, you and the children grab hands and run.'' When Jacinto does disappear, Felipe finds a note: ``Leave and don't come back. If not, you die.'' The tragedies and cruelties of the journey north are not Felipe's first troubles--he has spent a night hiding to escape impressment into the army, and he once found a man's hand in a lot near his home (``The death squads often dismember,'' Jacinto explained); but now there are new horrors--guides who charge exorbitantly, then steal still more; a man who offers a ride only to turn them in. The violence is real but mostly offstage or implicit in threats they're lucky enough to escape; Paloma flirts to gain one man's help, then manages to evade him; later, she uses the safer tactic of disguising herself as an unattractive boy. The characters come vividly to life, in their courageous behavior and in Temple's telling language (to her hard-working grandfather, little sister Romy is ``as dear to him as his machete''); the grueling journey typifies the Latino refugee experience, though these three--as certifiable political fugitives--are lucky enough to find acceptance when they reach their goal. Well wrought, authentic, and compelling. (Fiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orchard Books
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 0531054802
• ISBN 13: 9780531054802
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 165