Land of the Cranes - La tierra de las grullas

 

By Aida Salazar

 

 

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Press; Illustrated edition

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages

ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1338343807

ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1338343809

Reading age ‏ : ‎ 8 - 12 years

 

From the prolific author of The Moon Within comes the heart-wrenchingly beautiful story in verse of a young Latinx girl who learns to hold on to hope and love even in the darkest of places: a family detention center for migrants and refugees.

Nine-year-old Betita knows she is a crane. Papi has told her the story, even before her family fled to Los Angeles to seek refuge from cartel wars in Mexico. The Aztecs came from a place called Aztlan, what is now the Southwest US, called the land of the cranes. They left Aztlan to establish their great city in the center of the universe-Tenochtitlan, modern-day Mexico City. It was prophesized that their people would one day return to live among the cranes in their promised land. Papi tells Betita that they are cranes that have come home.

 

Then one day, Betita's beloved father is arrested by Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) and deported to Mexico. Betita and her pregnant mother are left behind on their own, but soon they too are detained and must learn to survive in a family detention camp outside of Los Angeles. Even in cruel and inhumane conditions, Betita finds heart in her own poetry and in the community she and her mother find in the camp. The voices of her fellow asylum seekers fly above the hatred keeping them caged, but each day threatens to tear them down lower than they ever thought they could be. Will Betita and her family ever be whole again?

 

Scholastic en español (September 7, 2021)

 

Betita, de nueve años, sabe que es una grulla. Papi le contó la historia desde antes que su familia emigrara a Los Ángeles buscando refugio de la guerra del narco en México. Los aztecas procedían de un lugar llamado Aztlán, en lo que es hoy el sureste de Estados Unidos, cuyo nombre significa "tierra de las grullas", y establecieron su gran ciudad en el centro del universo: Tenochtitlán, la actual Ciudad de México. Cuenta una profesía que su gente regresaría un día a vivir entre las grullas en la tierra prometida. Papi le dice a Betita que ellos son grullas que han regresado a su hogar.

 

Un día, el querido padre de Betita es arrestado por el Sevicio de Control de Inmigración y Aduanas y deportado a México. Betita y su mamá ingrávida se quedan solas, pero finalmente son también detenidas y deben aprender a sobrevivir en un campamento de detención de familias en las afueras de Los Ángeles. Incluso en estas condiciones crueles e inhumanas, Betita encuentra amparo en su propia poesía y en la comunidad que ella y su madre encuentran en el campamento. Las voces de sus compañeros en busca de asilo vuelan por encima del odio que los mantiene enjaulados y que amenaza cada día con hacerlos caer más bajo de lo que jamás imaginarón. ¿Podrán Betita y su familia volver a ser una sola?

 

 

Review

 

 

* "Powerful...lyrical...soaring." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

 

"Some books are beautifully written. Others are vitally important. Land of the Cranes is both. Quite simply, a must-read."―Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and New York Times bestselling author of A Single Shard

 

"Aida Salazar is one of the most important new voices in children's literature. Land of the Cranes is a novel that uplifts, empowers, and soars. This book belongs in every classroom." ―Erin Entrada Kelly, Newbery Award-winning author of Hello, Universe

 

"In a time of chaos, Land of the Cranes rises above the clouds of confusion and sings a skillful, migratory song; its sorrowful lament, a tearful message―Awaken! Awaken! Let love lead to change."―Guadalupe García McCall, Pura Belpré Award Winner of Under the Mesquite

 

"Aida Salazar takes heartache and despair and is able to weave a lyrical narrative that confronts one of the greatest human rights violations on U.S. soil in recent memory."―Isabel Quintero, author of Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book My Papi Has a Motorcycle

 

 

Aida Salazar is an award-winning author and arts activist whose writings for adults and children explore issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the middle-grade verse novels The Moon Within (International Latino Book Award Winner), Land of the Cranes, and the biography picture book Jovita Wore Pants: The Story of a Revolutionary Fighter. With Yamile Saied Méndez, she is slated to coedit Calling the Moon, a middle-grade anthology on menstruation by writers of color. She is a founding member of Las Musas, a Latinx kidlit debut author collective. Her short story "By the Light of the Moon" was adapted into a ballet production by the Sonoma Conservatory of Dance and is the first Xicana-themed ballet in history. She lives with her family of artists in a teal house in Oakland, California.