LETTERS IN CHARCOAL

Almost nobody in Palenque, Colombia, knows how to read or write.

Gina, the young narrator’s older sister, has been receiving letters from a young doctor who spent time with them in the pueblo but has since moved on. The girls can only guess at the content of his letters and dream that they are professions of love. Motivated by curiosity, the younger sister begins to learn the alphabet from a kind local shopkeeper. She then, in turn, passes the newly acquired knowledge along to her sister, writing the letters of the alphabet on the ground in charcoal, and slowly they both begin to read. They learn that the young doctor, discouraged by the lack of response to his letters, plans to stop writing. The sting of this loss is tempered by the joy of their new education, and the narrator commits herself to a life of reading and helping others learn to read. Palomino’s warm, flat, textured illustrations depict a bustling Afro-Latine community. Based on stories told to the author by many Colombian women, this tenderly matter-of-fact tale, translated from Spanish, celebrates the freedom to read in an area where it was once forbidden by colonizers; an author’s note offers context about the descendants of enslaved Africans in the Americas. Vasco’s narrative reminds readers that even in the face of lost connections, the joy of reading can light the way to a brighter future. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A heartfelt tale that captures the transformative power of education.