Flowers in the Sky

January 14, 2013
Joseph’s quietly compelling novel captures both the colorful sun-filled atmosphere of 15-year-old Nina’s beloved seaside town, Samana, in the Dominican Republic, and the grit of New York City’s Washington Heights neighborhood. Unlike most Dominicans, Nina has no desire to make “a better life” in New York; she loves Samana and is miserable when her mother sends her to live with her 28-year-old brother, Darrio, in Manhattan. Appalled by the noisy streets teeming with drug dealers and vulgarly dressed Dominicanos, she misses tending her garden and the flowers that were an integral part of her being: “Now I knew how it felt to be rudely uprooted and replanted in the wrong soil.” Joseph (The Color of My Words) keeps the suspense high as Nina tries to adjust to her new circumstances. Is the terse, green-eyed barber who sets her heart pounding worthy of her love, or a criminal? What to do about her levelheaded, ambitious schoolmate Carlos, whose feelings for her are more than platonic? And what kind of trouble is Darrio in? A moving, thoughtful coming-of-age story set against a realistic multicultural backdrop. Ages 13–up.

February 15, 2013
A coming-of-age story chronicles the challenges of moving to a new land. Nina Perez loves her life in Samana, Dominican Republic, but her mother wants her to move to Nueva York, the land of opportunity, so 15-year-old Nina immigrates to Manhattan to live with her older brother, Darrio. Adjusting to life in the United States is hard, and through her idealized descriptions of life in Samana, readers feel Nina's distress at trading her lush, tropical homeland for the concrete jungle. Though Nina is glad to reunite with Darrio, she soon begins to question his lifestyle. Deftly painting her feelings of helplessness, Joseph ensures readers sympathize with the confusion and fear that hold Nina in paralysis. The story also offers romance in the form of handsome Luis Santana. Despite her feeling something's not quite right, Nina falls for Luis, though her reasons for doing so aren't entirely clear, as readers aren't privy to the majority of their conversations until late in the book. Luis' often demanding tone toward Nina is distressing, not to mention a worrisome example. Though imperfect, this story is a tale that needs to be told, its quiet, unflinching portrayal of a girl struggling to grow up in less-than-perfect circumstances an important one. (Fiction. 12-17)

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-This story of family secrets, friendships, and a love of nature is a compelling read. Fifteen-year-old Nina's life in the Dominican Republic suits her just fine. Despite being poor, Nina has her garden, school, friends, and a mother with whom she is very close. But when Mami catches her flirting with an older boy, she is sent to live with her brother in New York City. Mami insists that going to New York will give her daughter a better life and pays for a false passport. Once in the city, Nina discovers that her brother is involved in something illegal and that he has lost interest in gardening, a passion that they once shared, even though he buys her orchids to raise on the fire escape. She realizes how hard he struggles to make enough money to send back to their mother. When she meets handsome Luis, her brother demands that she stop seeing him, but she disobeys. Nina is a strong heroine, and Joseph does an exceptional job of portraying flawed but sympathetic characters. The descriptions of life in the Dominican Republic and New York City provide interesting and realistic contrasts and show how immigrants keep much of their culture in a new environment as a matter of survival. This title fills a need for Latino literature, but it also tells a universal story with touches of mystery and romance.-Janet Hilbun, Texas Women's University, Denton, TX

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2013
Joseph's The Color of My Words (rev. 9/00) portrayed a gifted twelve-year-old living under an oppressive Dominican Republic regime; here, an older girl must leave the island. Nina's Mami sends her to join her brother Darrio in New York, imagining she'll snag a wealthy husband -- a doctor, or a pro baseball player. Unfortunately, Darrio's reality is nothing like Mami's dreams. While people in Washington Heights, Nina finds, are "Dominicanos like me," at first she only sees "frowns and heard cursing and felt a thickness of fear and regret permeating the air." She longs for the easy camaraderie and the lush flora back home. Darrio's tiny apartment is bleak, barely furnished; dealers and bullies roam the streets. Still, Nina makes friends at school and in the neighborhood, especially with entrancing green-eyed Luis. Helping her raise orchids on their fire escape, Darrio seems more himself; yet his mysterious transactions in a locked room down the hall trouble Nina, who -- comparing herself to Laura in The Glass Menagerie -- concludes that "ignorance wasn't blissful." With the help of some clear-sighted new friends, she weathers the truth about her beloved brother and her demanding mother, too. This is an absorbing picture of a thoughtful young woman navigating a challenging new environment with intelligence, moral courage, and grace. joanna rudge long

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2013
Nina's Mami sends her from the Dominican Republic to join her brother Darrio in New York, imagining she'll snag a wealthy husband. Unfortunately, Darrio's reality is nothing like Mami's dreams. With the help of some clear-sighted new friends, Nina weathers the truth about her beloved brother and their demanding mother. This is an absorbing picture of a young woman navigating a challenging new environment.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)