Now available in Spanish! An eleven-year-old's world is upended by
political turmoil in this "lyrically ambitious tale of exile and
reunification" (Kirkus Reviews) from an award-winning poet, based on
true events in Chile.Celeste Marconi is a dreamer. She lives peacefully
among friends and neighbors and family in the idyllic town of
Valparaiso, Chile--until one day when warships are spotted in the harbor
and schoolmates start disappearing from class without a word. Celeste
doesn't quite know what is happening, but one thing is clear: no one is
safe, not anymore. The country has been taken over by a government that
declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be
considered "subversive" and dangerous to Chile's future. So Celeste's
parents--her educated, generous, kind parents--must go into hiding
before they, too, "disappear." Before they do, however, they send
Celeste to America to protect her. As Celeste adapts to her new life in
Maine, she never stops dreaming of Chile. But even after democracy is
restored to her home country, questions remain: Will her parents
reemerge from hiding? Will she ever be truly safe again? Accented with
interior artwork, steeped in the history of Pinochet's catastrophic
takeover of Chile, and based on many true events, this multicultural ode
to the power of revolution, words, and love is both indelibly brave and
heart-wrenchingly graceful.