"SELAVI"

THAT IS LIFE

A HAITIAN STORY OF HOPE

Selavi, that is life: A Haitian story of hope. (2004). El Paso, Tex.: Cinco Puntos Press.

Readability Lexile: AD660L

Target Audience: Ages 8 and up

Setting: Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Theme: Hope in the midst of despair

Characters: Selavi and his family. All orphans.

Summary: A homeless boy on the streets of Haiti joins other street children, and together they build a home and a radio station where they can care for themselves and for other homeless children. 

Like so many of the children's books we have read this semester, Selavi draws the reader in to what is nothing less than despicable circumstances for any child to have to endure. The cover leads you to believe you're entering into some wonderful tale of life in Haiti. I was not prepared for the depth of suffering that its pages would reveal. No child should have to suffer the horrors these children are dealing with.

The illustrations are well done and depict both happiness and sorrow at the same time. Their family is now made of all people who are willing to help, be helped, and live with the hope that together, people can make changes to what are otherwise terrible circumstances. Their original shelter was burned down, but they now have built a new home, a radio station, and television broadcast that is heard around the world.

It includes bibliographical references which allow the reader to meet some of the participants in this true story. I would use this book in my classroom to emphasize that "Alone, you may be a single drop of water, but together you can be a mighty river." It displays teamwork which is needed in our classrooms and communities where people feel desperate or have no hope. For this reason, it meets the requirements of high quality literature set forth by Norton (2011)