LitPick Review
The book Caminar by Skila Brown takes place in 1981 in Guatemala in a tiny village called Chopan. Soldiers come to Chopan to tell the village folk to look out for Communist rebels. The main character in this book is Carlos. He is an adventurous person who wants to feel grown up. By grown up, I mean fight in the war. Carlos wants to fight, protect his village, and be a man. His mother refuses to let him go, and instead he must flee. He leaves for the mountain village of Patrichal where his Abuela lives. His mission, given to him by his mother, is to warn them of the rebel soldiers.
His mother promises to follow soon. On his journey up the mountain Carlos runs into some rebels. How will they respond to him?
Opinion:
This book is written in verse (poetry). It made the book very confusing and hard to understand. The tone is serious often somber. With war comes death and destruction and the author captures that feeling her poetry.
The author uses short verses, which can seem be difficult to read. It’s hard to get a sense of the characters and setting and connect on a deeper level. I did like when the book talked about the soldiers playing soccer and doing other things with the citizens of Chopan. Overall, I did not really like Caminar by Skila Brown.
