Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti [Mass Market Paperback]

Frances Temple (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 28, 2004

Every Life
Makes a Story

Djo has a story: Once he was one of "Titid's boys," a vital member of Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide's election team, fighting to overthrow military dictatorship in Haiti. Now he is barely alive, the victim of a political firebombing.

Jeremie has a story: Convent-educated Jeremie can climb out of the slums of Port-au-Prince. But she is torn between her mother's hopes and her own wishes for herself ... and for Haiti.

Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide has a story: A dream of a new Haiti, one in which every person would have a decent life ... a house with a roof ... clean water to drink ... a good plate of rice and beans every day ... a field to work in.

At Aristide's request, Djo tells his story to Jeremie -- for Titid believes in the power of all of their stories to make change. As Jeremie listens to Djo, and to her own heart, she knows that they will begin a new story, one that is all their own, together.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This arresting first novel presents a powerful fictional portrait of the poverty and oppression in contemporary Haiti. Seventeen-year-old Djo, one of Jean-Bertrand Aristide's bodyguards, has been badly beaten by the macoutes , violent members of Duvalier's private army. While Djo is recovering in the hospital, Fr. Aristide convinces him to dictate his life story to a girl scribe named Jeremie. Djo reveals the key events of his childhood in brutally vivid detail: he left home early because his mother had too many mouths to feed; he taught reading to younger boys at Aristide's shelter; he was kidnapped and sold into slavery as a sugar cane worker. In the person of Djo, Temple has successfully created a martyr for the people. His narrative contains a smattering of social and political insights as well as excerpts from Aristide's motivational writings and speeches. Djo's and Jeremie's dialect is never cumbersome for the reader--a glossary appears at the end of the book--and lends authenticity to their accounts. Djo's extraordinary experiences and circumstances shed harsh light on a people in crisis. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-- Haiti is the setting for this novel of two young people whose growth toward matu rity mirrors the same process taking place in their volatile country. Based on real incidents and people, it is the fascinating story of fiction al Djo, one of Aristide's boys, street urchins whom the priest gathered together to give an opportunity for a different life and a chance at an education. Jeremie is a young woman edu cated at a convent school, the only way out of the slums into which she was born. They meet at Djo's hospital bedside where he is near death from a beating at the hands of the Tonton Ma coute, the deposed Duvalier's private army of thugs; she is responsible for getting Djo's story on tape. While he is in a coma, she writes her own story. Both of their accounts are full of the grim realities of life in modern Haiti, complete with the sense of hopefulness and helplessness that must fill a country in which politics are a deadly game. Dialect is used throughout, but it is readable, lyrical, and adds authenticity to the narrative. Factual material is integrated ex tremely well; no background knowledge is needed to become caught up in the drama of the many in this embattled land as related through the eyes of two compelling characters. An excellent first effort. --Kathryn Havris, Mesa Pub . Lib . , AZ
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperTeen (December 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0064471365
• ISBN-13: 978-0064471367
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,088 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #31 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Homelessness & Poverty
  • #45 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > Social Issues > Violence
  • #49 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Social Issues > Violence

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A tale of Haiti, January 10, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti (Mass Market Paperback)

Taste of Salt, written by Frances Temple, is a provocative, exciting tale of the life of a young Haitian man, Djo, and the struggle against a dictatorship that hired Macoutes, thugs, to keep itself in power. Djo grew up on the streets with his brother before Father Aristide, known to them as Titid, adopted them. Djo was injured by Macoutes who firebombed him. Now he lies in a hospital bed telling his story to a student of a nun school named Jeremie. She listens.
There are several reasons to read this book, but the two greatest are its complex setting and the intricate writing style. The setting is elaborate as the book takes place in 1991in the city of Port-Au-Prince, when people were trying to attain a democracy and end the dictatorship of Jean-Claude Duvalier who named himself president for life and hired Macoutes. The writing style is unique as it has many flashbacks and the story is half from Djo's view and half from Jeremie's view. The flashbacks are interesting as they tell how the characters came to their current state and telling what they did until then. Also the different characters views have are written slightly different with slightly different writing styles that reflect the different characters speech styles.
This book is quite good but some may find fault with the fact that it uses some Creole words that can be quite confusing and force you to look back to the glossary disrupting. Though at first it may appear a negative fact, by the end it becomes interesting and you feel you have learned a little of their culture. However, even if one finds the Creole to be disrupting they will still enjoy the overall quality of this book.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If You've Been to Haiti, You Know The Truth, April 22, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti (Mass Market Paperback)

And, Temple tells it wonderfully! She writes english with the Creole (Kreyol) feel of putting words together, and the research was dead on. I have stood outside of the burned out St. John Bosco, I have walked and worked in Cité Soleil. This book made me cry, and oh so "homesick" for a country that I only met 4 years ago!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for classroom use!, June 30, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti (Mass Market Paperback)

I recently read this book in order to find fresh literature to present in the classroom. I can't wait to read this with my 7th-grade English students. Because of its structure, Taste of Salt lends itself to many creative teaching strategies. The values and themes are very relevant to our students today. Read it and you will see!