A Promise to Keep - Softcover

Mario Bencastro

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1558854576 ISBN 13: 9781558854574

Publisher: Arte Publico Press, 2005

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Sergio, struggling to honor his grandfather's wish to be buried in El Salvador, undertakes a journey filled with unexpected disasters, triumphs, and the memory of his beloved Abuelo.

About this title

About the Author

Mario Bencastro is the author of award-winning novels that explore the impact of civil war in the lives of Central American immigrants in the United States. His first novel, A Shot in the Cathedral (Arte Público Press, 1996), was a finalist for the international Novedades y Diana award, and his collection of short stories, The Tree of Life: Stories of Civil War (Arte Público Press, 1997) focuses on the civil war that took place in El Salvador in the eighties. Odyssey to the North (Arte Público Press, 1998) focuses on Central American immigration into the United States. Bencastro s novels have been published in Canada, El Salvador, United States, Haiti, India and Mexico. Bencastro lives in Florida.

Reviews

Grade 7 Up–When he is 16, Sergio sets off on a journey from Los Angeles to keep a promise he had made to his grandfather to take his body back to El Salvador for burial after his death. After he convinces his parents and guidance counselor to let him go, he leaves behind his struggles in school and his job cleaning buildings to get on a plane transporting his grandfather's coffin. Although the plane crashes over a body of water en route, everyone survives, and the retrieved floating casket gets to its destination. While staying with his aunt for the week, Sergio meets Flor de Ángel. After surviving an earthquake, they realize that they are in love, and Sergio decides to stay and help her as she is smuggled into the United States. Awkward dialogue, implausible situations, and an abundance of telling rather than showing make this book fall short. Ben Mikaelsen's Red Midnight (HarperCollins, 2002) and Fran Leeper Buss's Journey of the Sparrows (Puffin, 2002) are better books that feature Central American characters illegally crossing the United States border for a better life, or simply to survive.–Diane P. Tuccillo, City of Mesa Library, AZ
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Arte Publico Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1558854576
• ISBN 13: 9781558854574
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 134