Books with author Emilie Smith-Ayala

When Marisol is eight, her father is killed and she and her mother and little brothers have to flee the bright, warm world of Latin America and go to North America. Marisol feels confused and isolated in the northern, wintry place that is not yet home. Every day she thinks longingly of her dead father and the world she left behind. But one night Marisol has a special dream. She sees her mother's mother, weaving an endless cloth with every color of the world in it. They show her that her father is both with them and with her, in the wind and the stars. The next evening when a tiny yellow bird flies in out of the bitter cold, Marisol knows why it has come. Marisol's story explores the issues of loss, identity, and the resurgence of joy.

This is the story of a family outing that turns out to be a bit more than anyone bargained for. Mama and her three boys, Abel, Bram and Axelito, decide to make a picnic lunch and trek up the mountainside to see a wondrous waterfall. Mama takes tuna and avocado sandwiches, Bram scoops up his puppy and they are off. They reach the waterfall, but before they have a chance to eat their lunch a huge storm roars down upon them, flooding the dry riverbed and tearing the trees to pieces. Freddie the puppy is almost lost, and the family has to get down the storm-torn mountain side as best they can.

When Marisol is eight, her father is killed and she and her mother and little brothers have to flee the bright, warm world of Latin America and go to North America. Marisol feels confused and isolated in the northern, wintry place that is not yet home. Every day she thinks longingly of her dead father and the world she left behind. But one night Marisol has a special dream. She sees her mother's mother, weaving an endless cloth with every color of the world in it. They show her that her father is both with them and with her, in the wind and the stars. The next evening when a tiny yellow bird flies in out of the bitter cold, Marisol knows why it has come. Marisol's story explores the issues of loss, identity, and the resurgence of joy.

This is the story of a family outing that turns out to be a bit more than anyone bargained for. Mama and her three boys, Abel, Bram and Axelito, decide to make a picnic lunch and trek up the mountainside to see a wondrous waterfall. Mama takes tuna and avocado sandwiches, Bram scoops up his puppy and they are off. They reach the waterfall, but before they have a chance to eat their lunch a huge storm roars down upon them, flooding the dry riverbed and tearing the trees to pieces. Freddie the puppy is almost lost, and the family has to get down the storm-torn mountain side as best they can.