Mama's nightingale : a story of immigration and separation

This is book on a serious topic. Saya is a little girl whose mom is in an immigration detention center. She looks forward to listening to the sound of her mother's recorded voice on their answering machine, listening every chance she gets until one day she erases it. Saya's father is trying

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everything to get her mother home. Writing letters to congressman and newspapers with no luck the family is desperate to get Saya's mother the right papers that will reunite her with her family. Saya and her father visit her mother in the the correctional facility and have a gut wrenching time saying goodbye to each other. Saya's mom sends her tape recordings of Haitian stories for Saya to listen to at bedtime. Saya decides to take things into her own hands by writing a letter to the newspaper.

Even though this book has a serious topic it is filled with hope and the power of having a voice. Saya finds her voice to advocate for her mother and is successful in getting her mother home. This is a beautiful illustrated and powerful tale filled with Haitian folklore and language. This would be a good book for elementary school age children.

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“When Mama first goes away, what I miss most is the sound of her voice.” All that Saya knows is that mama is gone because she doesn’t have papers. Being young, she doesn’t understand what that means, but she does understand her father’s sadness when he writes to government agencies to

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secure his wife’s release and receives no response. When Saya and her papa visit the jail, she relishes in her Haitian stories and her mama’s song. When she receives mail, mama sends a tape recording so that Saya can listen to a bedtime story. Inspired by her parents, Saya writes her own story, which makes a splash in the press. Both Saya and young readers come to learn: One person can make a difference. Staub’s endearing characterizations and loud bright color palette provides a perfect complement to this heartrending tale of immigration.

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Edwidge Danticat, nominated twice for the National Book Award in the adult category, here writes a book for children based in part on her own experiences as a child in Haiti. She was separated from her parents while they tried to get immigration papers for her and her brother to come join them in

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the U.S.

In this story, Saya, a little Haitian girl living in America, is longing for her mother, who has spent the previous three months in a prison for women without immigration papers. Even though Saya and her Papa visit Mama very week, Saya misses her terribly. The parents come up with the idea of the mom sending Saya a cassette tape every week, on which she records bedtime stories for Saya to listen to at night.

In turn, Saya writes for a story her Mama about Mama’s absence, and Papa sends it to one of the local newspapers, which decides to print it. Soon Papa and Saya are interviewed on the local news, and a judge rules Mama can wait for her papers at home. Mama creates a new story, about how “a smart and brave little nightingale helps her mommy find the right rainbow trail, and the mommy follows it home.”

As the author reveals in an end note, “According to the United States’ Department of Homeland Security’s Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the people Saya refers to as the immigration police, over 70,000 parents of American-born children have been jailed and departed in recent years.”

The vivid oil-painting illustrations by Leslie Staub are done in the style of Haitian folk-art, employing bright colors and lots of fascinating whimsical details.

Evaluation: This is a heartrending and heartwarming story, with gorgeous art work.

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Drawing on her own childhood experiences, Danticat has written a sweet, comforting story of a little girl separated from her mother, who does not have the "proper papers" and is being detained by the immigration authorities. The colorful and magical illustrations are delightful. This is intended

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for quite young children, but I would recommend caution in reading it to yours, unless they have some reason to understand the situation. It is comforting to find that Saya's mother is eventually able to return to her family, and that Saya herself has a hand in that outcome. For a very young child with no experience of this kind of separation, however, I think it might raise unwarranted fears that Mama or Papa could be taken away. An older child would be able to understand.

Review written in May 2016

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This was hard for me to read, as I have family members that have been deported and live in this country in fear of being separated form their loved one. This book talks about the reality of family that go through this process of being deported, and the consequences of those actions. Sayas mother is

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in Immigration Detention while she awaits for her papers to arrive to stay in the country. Saya uses the answering machine as comfort in listening to her mothers voice. Soon after her mom send her voice recording telling Saya stories. At the end Saya's mom gets to go home with Saya.

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"Islandborn" by Junot Diaz had more surrealism but this one has more empowerment so how you gonna choose?

This was a beautiful and heartbreaking story about the realities of immigration and how families get separated for long periods of time. It gracefully intertwines with Haitian culture and shows how with enough support and love action can happen and families can be reunited.