Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

Author:Julia Alvarez
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Social Issues - Emigration & Immigration, Social Issues, Farm & Ranch Life, Business, Occupations, Latino, Juvenile Fiction, People & Places - United States - Hispanic, Children's Books, Children: Grades 4-6, General, United States, Social Issues - Friendship, Lifestyles, Ages 9-12 Fiction, Juvenile Social Problems (General), People & Places, Emigration & Immigration, Friendship, Careers, Hispanic & Latino
ISBN: 9780375851230
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2010-09-15T10:03:37.732000+00:00

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Each one is un besito (x) and un abrazo (o),

Mari

31 diciembre 2005

Querido Tío,

This is the last day of the old year, and as Papá says, good riddance. May the new year bring you safely home! I hope that you can stay in the United States because our family is not the same without you, Tío. How we miss your beautiful guitar playing and songs and your great stories and jokes.

I know you miss your guitar, too. The patrón's younger son told us that you asked if you could be allowed to have your Wilmita with you, but it is not permitted. It made me wonder what I would miss the most if I were locked up in a jail. Besides my family, it would be my letter writing (though I think this is permitted) and then very small things like catching snowflakes on my tongue or looking up at the stars on a clear night.

Maybe it just makes you miss your freedom more to hear me mention these things? But sometimes, Tío, like when you sing “La Golondrina” and feel transported back to México through the song, something similar happens when I write. Mamá once told me that just writing a letter to someone would make me feel less alone, and she was right! I have written to her, and even to Abuelita, and while I am writing, I feel they are back. Also, when I write you these letters, it's as if I am talking face to face with you again. And not only that, Tío, but I am able to tell you things I never could in person.

The patrón's wife told us that you are in jail with seven other men, and a half- dozen jailers, none of whom speak Spanish. She said that one of the deputies told her everybody feels sorry because you have no one to talk to. Which is why they allowed the patrón's wife to bring you that box of cookies my sisters and I made with the grandmother just for you. I'm sorry the parrots came out looking like socks with beaks.

We also met your lawyer, who came over with the patrón's wife and our Spanish teacher after their first visit to introduce himself. He doesn't look like a lawyer—don't you agree? Maybe it's his red hair or how he wears jeans and a little earring in his ear like a girl. (I know pirates wear them, too.) But he is very smart and has told me a dozen times he wants to learn Spanish so he can defend the rights of oppressed people from the impoverished Americas. When he talks like that I feel embarrassed that I have a brand- new backpack and a tummy full of parrot cookies and a warm bedroom with stars on the ceiling that I'll tell you about later in this letter.

First, I have very exciting news: we think Mamá called! While we were meeting in the trailer after that first visit, the patrón's younger son came racing over to report that our mother was calling us on their telephone.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.