Customer Reviews

Colibri

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4 star:		(3)
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Tzunun Chumil, a Mayan child in Guatemala, was stolen from her parents on a crowded bus when she was four years old. Since that day, she has traveled with "Uncle," a sinister con artist who involves his unwilling charge in his schemes. Uncle supports "Rosa," as he prefers to call her, because many fortunetellers have predicted that she will find him a great treasure. Readers will identify with Tzunun as she searches her past for her true heritage, escapes her guardian and strikes up a friendship with a Mayan astrologer, and struggles to overcome her own inability to express her feelings, symbolized in the book by a claustrophobic, crushing sensation in her throat. (shy kids can relate). Readers of all ages will love the scary and magical elements of the story and savor the suspense. I especially loved the descriptions of the Guatemalan countryside and the little details which colorfully evoked the characters' way of life and their travels. Cameron has crafted a deliciously vivid depiction of Central America, and a thrilling tale of mystery.

This story (unabridged on CD) kept me, my husband, and our 9-year-old daughter riveted for hours on a long car trip. The story is interesting and the reader is excellent (not annoying, as some are). We stopped the CD many times to discuss the story. It is difficult to find a story that keeps the interest of adults AND is appropriate for kids; this is one!

I read this story after having visited a small Mayan village in Guatemala. In it, a young Mayan girl is used by an older man, "Uncle", to provide an extra income as he travels and begs. Ann Cameron has done a lovely job of blending the dynamics between abuser and abused, revealing how deeply a child can be severed from their own identity, and how difficult it is to see it, or to imagine a life outside of it once you are in it. She weaves a story of self-discovery, of strength and compassion. She reminds us that it only takes one caring person to reach out and empower another.

Ann Cameron incorporates the traditions and cultural intricacies of the people she writes about with great tenderness, respect, and honesty. This is a book rich with the texture and feel, color and brilliance of Guatemala through the eyes of her indigenous people.

Colibri is a fictional novel that tells the story of an Indian girl named Tzunun Chumil. Her mother gave her the nickname Colibri, meaning humming bird. At the age of four, Tzunun was kidnapped by an abusive con artist named Baltasar. Baltasar, or Uncle as Tzunun calls him, renamed the child Rosa and claims that he found her and has been searching for her parents ever since. Uncle went to a fortune teller when Rosa was little and she for told that Rosa would bring good luck to him and find him a treasure that would last him all his life. Because of this, Uncle has kept her with him. The two travel the cities of Guatemala begging and stealing to get by. Strangers make comments on her abnormal skinniness so readers can tell that she is deprived of food, even though she never complains of an empty stomach. Rosa is devoted to Uncle, as he is the only family she has, but hates the dishonesty of their way of life. Despite Uncle's crooked teachings, Rosa manages to keep a strong sense of right verses wrong. The story takes place when Rosa is twelve, and is told from her point of view. Uncle is beginning to become frustrated and is starting to doubt the treasure that was promised to him eight years before then. He decides to consult another fortune teller who gives Rosa the courage to try to escape from her horrible life. Uncle becomes an even bigger threat to Rosa's safety as the novel continues to unravel.

Overall, I found this book to be very interesting and hard to put down, even though it was rather sad and dealt with very harsh issues. The way Ann Cameron describes the setting and blends different cultures and religious practices kept me engaged throughout the story. Any reader will be touched by Rosa's need for security, belonging, and love. I admit that it brought me to tears (but I do cry easily). The issues such a young girl faces really makes anyone take a look at their own life and see how well we truly have it, and take notice that the problems Rosa faced still occur in the world today. Another lesson this book conveys is that sometimes it's not best to follow the advice of others and not everything everyone says is true. The character Marco teaches this to Rosa in a very memorable way. I would recommend this book to people of all ages not to just kids. It's a quick read with good lessons that really stick with the reader.

In my book a young girl was kidnapped and then stranded on a street. A man finds her and takes her home with him. They look for her parents but no one reports a lost girl. So he decides to take care of her.

Later in the book the man and the girl went to a city where one of the man's friends lives. There she got her own room and was able to take warm showers with shampoo and nice soap. When they were there the man and his friend explained to her that they wanted her to go to a church and stay there and keep watch for them because they were going to go into the church and steal the statue of Mary.

The girl knew that this was wrong and told the priest what they were going to do. The man told her ti stay with him and that she wouldn't be in trouble because she did not do any thing wrong. She didnt want to stay and instead while the man was on the phone calling people who lived in the village to help him catch the men she ran away so that the man wouldnt be mad at her.

To find out what happens at the end of the book go and check it out. I would definately recomind you doing just that. It was a good book because it always had something interesting going on and that made you not want to put the book down. I enjoyes this book and would recomind this book to anyone!