Red Glass

Starred review from October 1, 2007
Suffused with the region's vibrant colors, Resau's (What the Moon Saw
) memorable novel deftly blends Latin America's richness and mystery with the brutal realities its emigrants carry away. In her Arizona border town, narrator Sophie looks on as “a woman in a dress gazed at our muddy pond, a shallow puddle of sludge and leaves that shone in the moonlight. She knelt down as though she were praying, bowed her head, and drank, cupping the dirty water to her lips.” The prose captivates from the first chapter, where a six-year-old Mexican boy, orphaned during an illegal border crossing, enters Sophie's family on her 16th birthday, inviting comparisons with her favorite fictional character, the Little Prince (Saint-Exupéry's story serves as a subtext throughout). Like him, vulnerable Pablo yearns to go home. Sophie, bound by long-held fears, emerges from her tight shell as she helps escorts him to Mexico and continues on to Guatemala to help her new love interest, a teenage survivor of Guatemala's civil war, resurrect a painful past. Central themes of fear and emotional survival permeate the multilayered plot; Resau focuses on Sophie's increasing willingness to cross physical, social and emotional borders, but most of her other characters have also faced major dislocations, from Sophie's British-born mother to the distantly related Dika, a middle-aged Bosnian refugee. A mystical overlay from the practices of Pablo's Mixtec relatives adds even more luster to a vibrant, large-hearted story. Ages 10-up.

Starred review from October 1, 2007
Gr 8 Up-Timid and fearful, 16-year-old Sophie finds courage and first love when she and her Bosnian great-aunt Dika join a Guatemalan immigrant and his son to take six-year-old Pablo, sole survivor of his family's illegal trek into the U.S., back to his Mexican relatives. Arizona-born Sophie's allergies and fears are tellingly contrasted with the real experiences of Dika, Ángel, and Mr. Lorenzo, survivors of wartime violence in their own countries. The author's love for the culture and physical setting of rural Oaxaca and northern Guatemala is shown in beautiful, descriptive detail. Rich, poetic language, elements of the hero quest story pattern, and quotations from St. Exupéry's "The Little Prince" are braided through this coming-of-age romance as Sophie grows from amorphous onlooker into a strong, risk-taking young woman. Secondary characters, especially the 60-year-old Dika and her "boyfriend," Mr. Lorenzo, are well developed. Readers will sympathize with Pablo and agonize as he chooses whether to stay in Mexico or return to Sophie's family in Arizona. The satisfying love stories and moving glimpse of the immigrant experience make this a captivating read."Kathleen Isaacs, Towson University, MD"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from September 15, 2007
Sixteen-year-old Sophie finds plenty of room in her heart for Pablo, a five-year-old Mexican orphan whose parents died during their illegal border crossing. Silent since his parents death, he finally speaks and tells Sophies family the name of his Mexican village. Though fearful of everything from kitchen-sponge bacteria to leprosy, not to mention relationships with boys, Sophie makes the momentous decision to take Pablo back to see his relatives. Then, she hopes that he will return with her to Tucson. Pablo, Sophie, and her great-aunt Dika will drive to southern Mexico with Dikas Guatemalan gentleman friend, Mr. Lorenzo, and his handsome, enigmatic son, ngel. With these companions, Sophie undertakes an epic journey of chance, change, and discovery. The author of What the Moon Saw (2006), Resau works her magic again in this compelling first-person narrative. Full of longing and trepidation, Sophie is limited at the beginning of the story.But as she travels and comes to understand people better; life-altering perspectivesawaken anewfound courage. Late in the novel, magical elements and coincidence demand suspension of disbelief; but many readers will be willing to follow Sophies story wherever it leads. The vivid characters, the fine imagery, and the satisfying story arc make this a rewarding novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2008
After Border Patrol leaves six-year-old Pablo at her home, sixteen-year-old Sophie and her aunt take Pablo to rural Mexico to visit his extended family. The trip invites shy Sophie to find courage and revel in simple pleasures. Resau excels in gently explicating profound and fragile emotions. The novel is an unconventional portrait of love, built on determination and perseverance.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2008
Resau's (What the Moon Saw) second novel is a delicately wrought exploration of tragedy, violence, and the human ability to sustain love. Painfully shy and plagued by fear, sixteen-year-old Sophie is oblivious to her own beauty and potential. Her family is a surprising collection of survivors -- her stepfather, a legalized Mexican immigrant; her aunt, a Bosnian war refugee; and her mother, who holds them all together. When the Border Patrol brings six-year-old Pablo, the lone survivor of an ill-fated border crossing, to her home to recuperate, Sophie longs to make him part of the family. Reluctantly (she doesn't want to risk losing Pablo), Sophie agrees to accompany her aunt and a father-and-son pair of Guatemalan war refugees on a trip to rural Mexico so Pablo can visit his extended family. The trip forces Sophie to draw on her deepest reserves of courage, but it also invites her to revel in simple pleasures. Resau excels in gently explicating profound and fragile emotions. She holds taut in scene after scene the battle Sophie wages to be safe from loss and yet to love those who might hurt her by leaving. The novel may end in a conventional wedding, but it is nevertheless an unconventional portrait of love, built not on soft sentiments but on hard-won survival and a determination to persevere.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)