Honorable Prison [Library Binding]

Lyll Becerra de Jenkins (Author), Lyll Becerra De Jenkin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 1991

For years, Marta's father has attacked the dictator of their South American country in his newspapers. Now with the General cracking down, the Maldonados prepare to flee their home--but it is too late. On the eve of their escape, they are arrested and jailed in a house in the Andes--their honorable prison.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since few YA novels have addressed the political upheaval in South America, this gripping tale is especially welcome. Loosely based on the author's childhood experiences, Marta Maldonada's story begins as her journalist father continues to attack, in the pages of his newspaper, the country's dictator. As a result, Marta, her younger brother and her parents are jailed in a house in the Andestheir honorable prison. At first optimistic, Marta and her family try to make the best of their situation. But as the weather becomes colder, money and food scarcer, and her father's health worsens, Marta begins to give up hope that they'll ever be free. When help does come it is almost too late, but Marta has grown from a protected girl into a politically astute and sensitive young woman. An eloquent first novel. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-12 Perseverance and courage are the central themes of this poignant story about a South American family faced with politi cal oppression. Miguel Maldonado's jour nalistic attacks on the dictator lead to the arrest and imprisonment of his family, in cluding teenaged Marta. In a remote Ande an pueblo, under constant military surveil lance, the family must cope with the hardships of their ``honorable prison'': iso lation, boredom, hunger, illness, and fear. Marta shares in the emotional and physical deterioration of her family when her fa ther's health worsens, money for food is gone, and secret attempts to aid the family end in death for the messengers. Marta is torn between allegiance to her father and his cause and her own adolescent desires for independence and friendship with a handsome school teacher. In the end, the spiritual integrity of the family endures, the dictator is overthrown, and rescuers arrive. De Jenkins' fine first novel captures the tension and desperation of a family uncer tain of its fate but clinging to hope, pride, and ideals. Political and cultural insights emerge unobtrusively from the novel. Mar ta's brisk eyewitness account of events, people, and emotions is a vivid and trou bling portrayal of the ongoing struggle for human rights. An understated narrative gives dramatic emphasis to this struggle. Readers will be propelled quickly into the plot and will appreciate Marta's adolescent ambivalence and candor. Gerry Larson, Chewning Junior High School, Durham,
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Library Binding: 208 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140329528
• ISBN-13: 978-0140329520
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,380,401 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The only people to read this book are assigned it at school., January 14, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Honorable Prison: 2 (Hardcover)

It's not worth a read unless it's homework (it was for me.) My teacher loves books with no plot, in which absolutely nothing happens, so she loves this one. She also eats cats, but that's another story. Anyway, if you're doing it for homework then pay attention to the ways Marta changes throughout the story - you're probably going to have a homework assignement about that.