Serafina's Promise

September 9, 2013
Burg follows her debut, All the Broken Pieces, with this quieter yet compelling novel in verse about sensitive, ambitious 11-year-old Serafina, who lives in poverty in rural Haiti with her cheerful, compassionate father; hardworking, tightlipped mother; and wise grandmother, Gogo. Mourning the recent death of her baby brother while anxiously awaiting the birth of a new sibling, Serafina tries to please and help her family. Inspired by the female doctor who tended to her brother, she harbors a longing to attend school: “In the quiet,/ my own heart beat/ its unspoken secret./ I promised myself/ that one day/ I would be a real doctor.” Burg’s understated free verse—liberally sprinkled with Haitian Creole phrases—gains power as Serafina’s family is displaced by a flood, which is cruelly followed by the 2010 earthquake; the author skillfully weaves in information about the country’s traumatic history in a way that makes it personally significant to Serafina. While Serafina’s circumstances differ dramatically from those of most readers, her conflicting emotions about family dynamics and friendship, and her struggle to assert her aspirations, will resonate with many. Ages 10–14. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House.

Starred review from August 15, 2013
Eleven-year-old Serafina has a dream: to go to school and become a doctor. Yet her life outside of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, is filled with urgent chores and responsibilities. A natural healer, Serafina has already witnessed the loss of baby brother Pierre to disease and hunger, wishing she could have done more to save him. Now Manman is about to have another baby. How will her family ever do without Serafina's help or afford her school uniform? Burg uses gentle language and graceful imagery to create the characters that make up Serafina's loving family--Papa, Manman and Gogo, her wise grandmother. (Sadly, Granpe was taken away long ago by the Tonton Macoutes.) Told in first-person verse appealing to both reluctant and passionate readers, the novel is woven with Haitian history, culture and Creole phrases. Readers will root for this likable heroine as she overcomes obstacles--poverty, family obligations, the catastrophic 2010 earthquake--in her effort to emulate her mentor, Antoinette Solaine, the physician who tried to save Pierre. The spirit of the text's celebration of the power of determination, family, friendship and love is ably captured in Sean Quall's delightful cover art. Lilting, lyrical and full of hope. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Starred review from November 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-Serafina is just 11, but she fetches water from a stream every day and helps her family add to the coin jar by bundling the herbs her mother and grandmother sell. She has witnessed the death of her infant brother, wishing and wondering if she could have done more to save him. Told in verse, this first-person account of a young girl's life in Haiti is filled with sadness and the harsh realities of poverty, yet the poetic narrative sings of hope and promise. Inspired by Antoinette Solaine, the doctor who attends to her dying brother, Serafina vows to find a way to go to school and one day help others. But who would bring the water and help Manman with the chores? And the few coins in the jar do not come close to the cost of a school uniform and shoes. The story unfolds as the family, already victims of political unrest, now faces natural disasters and separation. Serafina, always the healer, rises above obstacles and hardship, keeping her dreams and her promises close at hand. A powerful and uplifting story of family and sacrifice, perfect even for reluctant readers.-Cheryl Ashton, Amherst Public Library, OH

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2013
Grades 5-8 Serafina is an 11-year-old Haitian struggling to keep her dream of becoming a doctor alive. Living in a desolate mountain village, Serafina toils at her daily chores while planning to attend school in the requisite uniform and shoes. Serafina has a warm family, a true friend in Julie Marie, and an encouraging woman doctor, who all come to support her vision. Then a flood washes away the family home, and the roaring stampede of an earthquake devastates the city of Port-au-Prince, where Serafina's father works and Julie Marie lives. In this novel in verse, the author of the acclaimed All the Broken Pieces (2009) uses a lush narrative bouquet, filled with blooms of quiet verse, rhythmic Creole, and Haitian proverbs and sayings that capture life's poignancy and hardships, including a message that Serafina has learned from an early age: If you want your eggs to hatch, sit on them yourself. In Burg's lyrical tale, Serafina is a force of nature in her own right who carries her family, friends, and dreams to safe ground.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)