Reviews

Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar

kelleemoye's review

Go to review page

4.0

I first struggled with reading this beautiful book, but by listening to it, I was able to hear the intricate verses and lyrical language. I am glad I didn’t give up on it!

hamckeon's review

Go to review page

5.0

Utterly heartbreaking

crescent_just's review

Go to review page

5.0

This book is so heart-wrenching and so very real.

thenextgenlibrarian's review

Go to review page

5.0

Well @aida_writes I’m in tears after reading the MG free verse book The Land of Cranes.

lizaroo71's review

Go to review page

3.0

Young Betita is happy with her home life. She creates beautiful poetry with images to depict what she loves in life. Her father encourages her to always find the dulzura in life. But things change dramatically when Betita's father is swept up in an ICE raid and deported to Mexico. Her pregnant mother and Betitita are trying to stay positive, but things seem grim. When they make an attempt to visit her father at the border, things turn worse. Betita and her mother are taken to a detention center. This is the bulk of the story.

Betita is scared, but she tries to find the sweetness in the situation. She takes solace in creating animals and a doll made out of toilet paper. She makes a friend with a young girl that confides in her the horrors of the last detention center she was in. She takes care of her mother.

The story highlights the atrocities that take place against immigrants every day. This is not unique to the U.S. either. Nor to the current administration.

I just listened to a podcast where the author of [b:The Deportation Machine: America's Long History of Expelling Immigrants|48710546|The Deportation Machine America's Long History of Expelling Immigrants|Adam Goodman|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579616089l/48710546._SX50_.jpg|74065995] was interviewed. I think I need to read this book to better understand the situation more clearly.

A good book to introduce the subject to young kids.

mrs_bookdragon's review

Go to review page

5.0

This book absolutely destroyed me. I am devastated and heartbroken, but also full of hope. Must read book in verse.

angiedkelly's review

Go to review page

5.0

Excellent and timely told in verse novel for middle grade readers. Eloquently tells the story of a modern day family who are held in encampment in an immigration camp. Not told in a scary way but rather factual and lyrical. The drawings interwoven into the text just add to the telling of the story.

Highly recommend as a classroom read aloud! Adults should read this one too!

shandawarren's review

Go to review page

5.0

This middle grade book was heavy, hard, powerful and so so necessary. Highly recommend.

cjmedinger's review

Go to review page

5.0

Incredible telling of life in a detention camp for a grade school age girl. Told in verse, was painful to read, but many kids will love it.

tammys_take's review

Go to review page

5.0

This was an eye-opener to the harsh conditions of immigrant detention centers, through the eyes of children, and their experiences. Written in poem, the language was striking, the conditions deplorable. It really challenged me to consider a different perspective and to feel a stronger compassion towards immigrants seeking asylum today. To find out that the names of characters were names of real children who passed away in real detention centers was heartbreaking.