A Cafecito Story [Hardcover]

Julia Alvarez (Author), Belkis Ramirez (Illustrator), Bill Eichner (Afterword)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1931498008 | ISBN-13: 978-1931498005 | Publication Date: October 1, 2001 | Edition: First Edition

A Cafecito Story is a story of love, coffee, birds and hope. It is a beautifully written eco-fable by best-selling author Julia Alvarez. Based on her and her husband's experiences trying to reclaim a small coffee farm in her native Dominican Republic, A Cafecito Story shows how the return to the traditional methods of shade-grown coffee can rehabilitate and rejuvenate the landscape and human culture, while at the same time preserving vital winter habitat for threatened songbirds.
Not a political or environmental polemic, A Cafecito Story is instead a poetic, modern fable about human beings at their best. The challenge of producing coffee is a remarkable test of our ability to live more sustainably, caring for the land, growers, and consumers in an enlightened and just way. Written with Julia Alvarez's deft touch, this is a story that stimulates while it comforts, waking the mind and warming the soul like the first cup of morning coffee. Indeed, this story is best read with a strong cup of organic, shade-grown, fresh-brewed coffee.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...highly recommended as being and intriguing blend of sparse writing, specific images, and involving discussions." -- Library Bookwatch, April 2003

"Eichner and Alvarez tell a complex story without being preachy or heavy-handed. They intend to inspire, and they do." -- HippoPress, Manchester

Language Notes

Text: English, Spanish (translation)
Original Language: English --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 64 pages
• Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing Company; First Edition edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931498008
• ISBN-13: 978-1931498005
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,063,968 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Julia Alvarez has bridged the Americas many times. Born in New York and raised in the Dominican Republic, she is a poet, fiction writer, and essayist, author of world-renowned books in each of the genres, including How the García Girls Lost their Accents, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Something to Declare. She lives on a farmstead outside Middlebury, Vermont, with her husband Bill Eichner. Visit Julia's Web site here to find out more about her writing.

Julia and Bill own an organic coffee farm called Alta Gracia in her native country of the Dominican Republic. Their specialty coffee is grown high in the mountains on what was once depleted pastureland. Not only do they grow coffee at Alta Gracia, but they also work to bring social, environmental, spiritual, and political change for the families who work on their farm. They use the traditional methods of shad-grown coffee farming in order to protect the environment, they pay their farmers a fair and living wage, and they have a school on their farm where children and adults learn to read and write. For more information about Alta Gracia, visit their website.

Belkis Ramírez, who created the woodcuts for A Cafecito Story, is one of the most celebrated artists in the Dominican Republic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buying a book is a political act - and so is buying food., November 18, 2001

By 

"hall1118" (Tucson, Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cafecito Story (Hardcover)

This simple story of a man, a new life, and a family struggling to survive and to be literate was moving to me. The lovely illustrations are woodcuts by Belkis Ramirez, an artist from the Dominican Republic. Also, as a rabid coffee lover, it brought back memories of rich aromatic coffee in cafes in Guatemala and Mexico. I recommend this book for anyone who is trying to live her or his life deliberately, trying to help with sustainable agriculture, and trying to make a difference in small but vital ways to a more balanced global economy.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Praise for Alvarez, June 1, 2005

By 

guadalupano (new mexico) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cafecito Story (Hardcover)

I picked this book up purley by chance. It was on a featured book table at my local library. I don't normaly real a lot of fiction but something made me check it out. I brought it home and started reading it the next morning while having my morning coffee. Theres something in the author's writing style that just makes you want to read more and more. I will most deffinently be purchasing this book and cherishing it forever. Thank you Julia Alvarez!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Cafecito Story, March 21, 2005

By 

JEK86 "Joe" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Cafecito Story: El Cuento Del Cafecito (Paperback)

A Cafecito Story is written by the well-known author, Julia Alvarez. It is a story about finding yourself and finding what will truly make you happy in life. The story is about a young man named Joe. Joe was born and raised in a small town in Nebraska. The town was a farming town so Joe grew up learning how to be a farmer. Joe's father was his most influential role model. Joe's father taught him the values of life. Joe wanted to be as loving and as good a farmer as his father was one day. As time goes by, the farm's business begins to fall. The farm must be put up for sale. Joe was sad when the farm was sold because it was the place he had grown up in. It was his home. When Joe becomes older he becomes a schoolteacher, meets and falls in love with a woman and gets married to this woman and also moves to Omaha. As time goes by, the marriage begins to fail. Feeling lost and confused, Joe plans a trip to the Dominica Republic at Christmas time. Joe just wanted to get away from his everyday life so that he could think about the way his life was going. After Joe had arrived in the Dominican Republic, one morning he was having a cup of coffee. A random woman told him that she could predict his future by looking at the stains in his coffee cup. The woman tells Joe that he will begin a new life in the mountains with the natives of the land. After hearing this, Joe decides to take a trip to the mountains. While in the mountains he stays with a family that reminds him of his own. This family owns a coffee farm. While staying with this family, Joe learns of the struggles that these people go through everyday of their lives. He soon learns that the family is going to have to sell their beloved coffee farm to a large industry that will make more coffee in less time and in turn make more money. The only way that the farm will be saved is if someone else buys the farm and helps run it. After learning of this option, Joe decides to buy the farm. He stays on the farm and grows coffee. Joe is proud of what he is doing with his life and for once in his life he feels happy. Joe knew that he was doing the right thing.
The book was a wonderful story of finding yourself. It is a short quick read but contained much meaning. Many people today go their whole lives and are never truly happy. Joe knew that he had to change his life. A lot can be learned from this book. It is a heart-warming story filled great lessons for all people. Joe followed his dreams and took a chance. All people need to take chances in life. Some chances pay off and some do not, but that is what life is, one big chance.