( )ĭiscussing the issue of slavery is never easy or pleasant, but Ms. I also greatly appreciated the opportunity offered, through this story, to American children, to see the legacy of slavery in another part of the world - the commonalities and differences with our own history in that area.Īll in all, despite some initial difficulties with the narrative - difficulties I've decided to ascribe to issues of translation, given my appreciation for almost everything else about the book - I thought From Another World was an outstanding children's novel, and would recommend it highly to all young readers who enjoy ghost stories, or works of historical fiction. I appreciated the children's frank discussions of race - the reality of having darker skin, the responsibility of having lighter skin, the mixing of all races, in most of Brazil's people - as I think this is something that is often missing in American children's literature. The details of Rosario's murder are quite disturbing - parents and educators take note - but necessary, I think, to give young readers a realistic idea of the depravity of slavery.
Featuring Mariano, a young boy with more time for sport and video games, than for reading and writing stories, his best friend Leo, Leo's elder sister Elisa, and Tere (Teresa), the granddaughter of neighboring farmers, From Another World is the story of an incredible series of visits from Rosario - the ghost of a slave-girl who lived in Brazil in the 19th century, in the very senzala (slave quarters) that their parents are working to turn into an annex for the small country hotel that they are opening - and offers a heart-breaking depiction of the barbaric inhumanity of Brazilian slavery, even in its waning days, and a fascinating discussion of race, racial memory, and racial responsibility, in modern-day Brazil - all wrapped up in an engaging story for young readers.Īlthough I agree with those reviewers who found the opening of From Another World rather slow, and who grew a little tired of Mariano's incessant disclaimers, with regard to his skills as a writer - having promised to tell Rosario's story, he is the narrator of the tale - once I entered fully into the story, I was completely involved in it, alternately horrified by the atrocities being related, and moved by the friendship and compassion displayed by the main characters.
Originally published as Do outro mundo, this slender volume from acclaimed children's author Ana Maria Machado, who won the Hans Christian Andersen Award in 2000, for her life's work, is both an engrossing ghost-story, and a sensitive, and intensely poignant examination of the legacy of slavery in the author's native Brazil.
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