Raise Your Voice

Sélavi, A Haitian Story of Hope

Written and Illustrated by: Youme Landowne

Cinco Puntos Press, 2004

40 pages

Multicultural Fiction

Sélavi is a homeless little boy that lives on the streets of Haiti. His family was torn apart by people with guns and his house was burned in the process.  Sélavi bounces from place to place in search of food and shelter, until one day a boy his age comes to him and offers him a place to stay. Sélavi accepts the offer thankfully, only to find that he is not alone in his struggle. When he gets to the tree that he will be sleeping in, he meets many kids that are all there just trying to make it through each day like him. One day, something happens that puts them back on the streets without hope once more. Separate, their voices are not loud, but together they can change the world, and that is just what they do. By expressing their need for help and a home, people take appropriate actions to meet their needs. These people provide more than a home; they provide hope. But will this hope get ripped apart just like every time before?

The illustrations are very colorful and vibrant with a soft texture. They are done in paint. At the back of the book, real photographs of Haitian children are shown. The lines in this book are light and vary between straight and curved.

I chose English Language Arts as my subject and second grade for my grade level. After reading the story, I would put my students in groups at their tables. I would spread out pictures of events from the story and have them sequence them in the order they occurred. We would read back over the book to see if they have the pictures in the correct order.