And when he is finally pulled to freedom, he “hugged so tight I thought I would never let go.”Ĭaptured with hopeful vibrancy by Haitian American artist Alix Delinois, the power of imaginative play, of hours spent in childhood wonder, the final relief of grace-filled reunion, emanate from the pages. Trapped and frightened, the little boy created delightful adventures each day, imagining that he was playing with his best friend Oscar, flying kites, gathering “the biggest game of marbles ever played … in the entire world!” He plays ‘hide-and-seek,’ teases his sister, visits his father’s barbershop, sings “the best solo ever sung,” gives his mother mango-kisses, even remembers to recite his lessons. And he tells the wondrous story of how he survived through his imagination: “In my mind, I played.” “I was brave,” he states simply when asked if he was afraid, sad, if he cried. Her latest title is dedicated to “the children of Haiti,” the children who survived the January 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake, who “in spite of everything, … still dream … laugh … live … love.”Įight days after the earth shook, a young boy is pulled from the rubble that was once his house. And goodness can she render some of the most horrific, haunting inhumanity into remarkably flowing, unforgettable prose. No one writes as memorably of Haiti than the award-winning Edwidge Danticat.
So on this last day of September, I thought it was time to post a happy ending story of survival against all odds. This has been one tragic week: the deadly Oaxaca, Mexico mudslide, the two Rutgers freshmen whose abusively invasive actions led to the suicide of a third first-year student, the deaths of iconic actor Tony Curtis and director Arthur Penn … and goodness, I feel like I’m just getting started …
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