FernFolio

Thirteen-year-old Rosa has lived with her Uncle for almost as long as she can remember. Together, they travel from village to town, supported by Uncle’s begging and petty thievery, while he looks for the opportunity, the deal, the swindle, that will change his luck and land him on easy street.
Yet Rosa knows that her name is really Tzunúm Chumil, that she once lived with a mother and a father who loved her, and that she came originally from a town whose name begins with San. Uncle claims that her parents threw Rosa away, but she has dreams of being stolen from her mother’s arms when she was very young, and recalls whispered conversations about rich white people wanting to buy babies.
Though she is too old to be adopted, Uncle believes that Rosa will make him wealthy because a fortune teller has told him so. He keeps her clothed and fed, and drags she with him from place to place, exasperated by her inability to help him with his frequent swindles, and frustrated that she won’t hurry up and lead him to his treasure.
But Rosa’s life goes abruptly from bad to worse when Uncle decides that they will try their luck in San Sebastián, with his old friend Raimundo. Raimundo’s flattery and considering expression worry Rosa almost as much as his plan to involve her in the theft of a 400-year-old statue.
Set in Guatemala, where the author, Ann Cameron, has lived for over twenty years, Colibrí is a wonderful story of courage and persistence, and reminds the reader that there is no greater gift than a true and loving heart.
FernFolio Editor