Tonight, by Sea - Softcover

Grade 6-9?Paulie has lived her entire life in the tiny Haitian community of Belle Fleuve with Grann Adeline and her uncle, the village coffin maker. By 1993, two years after the military overthrow of popularly elected Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Uncle is being kept all too busy burying victims of brute violence and starving children. He decides it is time to leave their beloved homeland and turns his talents to boat building. Paulie helps in the clandestine project, as do their neighbors, all of whom contribute supplies and support, hoping to secure passage on the completed vessel, aptly named Seek Life. In an action-packed escape, they set sail just as the macoutes are coming to confiscate the boat. This is a powerful novel that seeks to put a human face on the political and social turmoil within the troubled island nation. This is where Temple is at her best. In an elegant prose style, she captures the lyrical cadence of Creole speech and paints an affecting portrait of a proud, resourceful people trying to survive in the face of lawlessness and tyranny. She gets bogged down a bit in the discussions of social justice and the redistribution of wealth, which occasionally overwhelm the narrative. There are a few unbelievably fortuitous turns of events, but overall, Tonight, by Sea tells a compelling story that needs to be told. Whether these brave people indeed find life, or even shelter, on American soil remains to be seen.?Luann Toth, School Library Journal
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.