Marjorie AgosínRezensionen

This book whisked me away to Valparaíso, where I imagined myself riding a colorful cable car down the hills overlooking the ocean, as a pod of pelicans flew gracefully overhead. In my hands, I could almost feel the warmth of a bag filled with freshly baked empanadas from one of the charming bakeries just down the road.

This is a beautifully written realistic fiction for middle-grade children about the military takeover of Chile through the eyes of a young girl. It explores the themes of loss, displacement, and the power of hope and resilience. I learned that the author had escaped the terror of the Pinochet dictatorship with her family and drew heavily from her experience in this book.

Celeste, the protagonist, is smart, imaginative, and compassionate. She lives a privileged life and deeply loves her family, friends, and home. I particularly loved her bond with her grandmother. I love it when children are close to their grandparents.

What didn't work for me, however, were the length of the book and the pacing of the story. At 464 pages, this book is quite long! While I enjoyed and breezed through the first part of the novel, the second part dragged on to the point where I found myself getting bored and skipping pages, and the third part felt overly fantastical and rushed.

Despite these shortcomings, I find "I Lived on Butterfly Hill" a thought-provoking novel that sheds light on a dark chapter in Chilean history. Anyone interested in historical fiction or stories of resilience will enjoy this book.

This is a beautifully written story of a young girl whose parents must go into hiding when a dictator takes over the government of Chile. Soon after she is sent to live with her Tia in Maine. The 1st part of this book was gripping and hard, but it lost me in the middle, with what felt more like a traditional middle school narrative. I think it is to be recommended, though daunting at 450 pages.

This is an amazing book for teachers to have on their shelves for students. I would recommend this book for grades 6th-8th. A way you can connect this to instruction is by reading a few chapters as a class when talking about different forms of government. This book uses eleven-year old Celeste Marconi's letters, journals, and poem entries to talk about he life in Chile when suddenly taken under dictatorship. Her and her family face many difficult situations and must go into hiding. She is sent to the U.S. for her safety and experiences life in Maine for two years. She then returns to Chile after the dictator is overthrown and sets out to find her parents and has a goal of helping her country heal.

This story was about a young girl and her family's move from Chile to America. Another intriguing aspect is the illustrations at the beginning of each chapter. I would recommend this book to 2nd-4th grade as the content would likely suit and appeal best to that age group.I also feel like students in that age group would be able to understand family history a little bit better and appreciate the aspect of belonging. Belonging within their heritage culture as well as the new cultures that await them.

What a nice novel of friendships, among both adults and kids.
The author's writing style is wonderful and graphic.
I like how the main character develops and matures emotionally during the 5 years of the story.

I would have preferred to hear more of an ending on some of the secondary characters than what the author left us with. But overall, it was a nice refreshing story among a backdrop of temporarily hard times for the participants.½

this is a story about an eleven-year-old girl, Celeste, and her world getting completely turned over when she has to go to America after her beloved country is taken over by the government and declares that almost everyone is dangerous to chilies future. so Celestes must hide before they disappear forever. it's a very engaging story and would be perfect for students grades 5 and up. even though it's fictional it's very possible and you can relate to her struggles from her perspective.

The country has been taken over by a government that declares artists, protestors, and anyone who helps the needy to be considered subversive and dangerous to Chile's future. So Celeste's parents must go into hiding before they, too, disappear. Before they do, however, they send Celeste to America to protect her. This book is a powerful representation of what could really happen. Although, it is not a true story about a real person, these events could definitely happen.

Political turmoil and the saga of separation, exile, and reunification. The journey of young Celeste making her way to America from Chile, and the fear and anxiety she feels motivate the story forward. Readers can relate to her struggle or experience the challenges from her perspective.

Set in 1970, Immigration from Chile, democracy

Celeste shares a richly sensorial world in Valpariso where she has rich multi-generational relationships with family, neighbors, friends and teachers. She is already a write at 11 and sits on her roof recording the events of her world. There is an abrupt change to her circumstances when a dictator assumes control, repressing all arts and culture and forcing her parents into hiding and Celeste into a few year exile in Maine. This is a wonderful realistic fiction of a talented young girl coming of age with influences from her experiences in two cultures. This work has detailed descriptions and credible dialogue that makes it a very engaging read. Particularly suitable for ages 11 and up.

I found out about this book from my daughter who is in Bolivia on foreign exchange and heading to Chile to soon. I'm doubtful she got in school there but I think she was looking for books about Chile and she recommended it to me. I thought this was a well-written historical fiction that was seemingly very close to actual experiences that Lee White had. In many ways that is the kind of historical fiction I like best, not too fictiony yet poignant. The book is a little long (although it never seems to drag) and the fact that the author lived through it makes the details very realistic. I also enjoy the originality of the story, this is the first book I've read about Pinochet and Chile for children and I think it's great to have a unique topic ata time when a lot of the books seem the same and it's also an important world history event that kids should know about.

Curricular connection - I think you could use this in the classroom if you were teaching about exile, politics of other countries, coups, immigration

This is a beautifully written book that artfully describes the struggles a young girl faces when her family immigrates to the US to flee Chile's political unrest. I love how, although the story is written from a young girl's perspective, it still includes the mature themes of immigration, political unrest, and change.

HISTORICAL FICTION: Everything that happens in the book is completely plausible, but it is not about a real person. The novel stays true to the historical time period the story is set in.
MULTICULTURAL: The main character is a young girl who has grown up in Chile, but moves with her family to the US to flee Chile's social turmoil.

This was a beautiful "fish-out-of-water" story. It lost a star for the ending though. The switch to magical realism at the end felt very abrupt and didn't fit the rest of the straight-forward narrative.

Celeste's story takes place during Pinochet's takeover which hugely impacts her family and community. Her doctor parents flee into hiding and Celeste is sent to live in exile with her Tia Graciela in Maine. Neighbors and friends disappear without a trace.
Intriguingly, the story doesn't end after the General's death and happy reunions; we see how events continued to emotionally affect how people lived, with lingering fear and mistrust. It's a hopeful story and Celeste's voice is poetic and florid (at times there is a touch of telenovela drama to her exclamations). The portrayal of her family and friends is warm and loving, and wouldn't everyone want to live on her bustling, friendly Butterfly Hill with its sparkling ocean vista and air scented with flowers and pastries?

This book depicts a slice of Chilean history that is probably unfamiliar to many US readers. While the story is interesting, it is very long-winded. A good edit would have made this a much better book. It is quite long and repetitious for its intended audience (middle school).

I could see this book being used effectively in social studies' classes.

Very interesting and sad. Celeste is living in Chile with her family when the president is assassinated and a general takes over. The book covers the disappearances, Celeste's exile in Maine, the search for her parents and the attempt of the country to return to some sense of normalcy with the death of the general. The spanish text was well integrated into the rest of the text. The characters were all interesting and distinct although some less well developed than others. My only critique about the book was that there were about 4 places where the book could have ended naturally.

Very interesting and sad. Celeste is living in Chile with her family when the president is assassinated and a general takes over. The book covers the disappearances, Celeste's exile in Maine, the search for her parents and the attempt of the country to return to some sense of normalcy with the death of the general. The spanish text was well integrated into the rest of the text. The characters were all interesting and distinct although some less well developed than others. My only critique about the book was that there were about 4 places where the book could have ended naturally.

Very interesting and sad. Celeste is living in Chile with her family when the president is assassinated and a general takes over. The book covers the disappearances, Celeste's exile in Maine, the search for her parents and the attempt of the country to return to some sense of normalcy with the death of the general. The spanish text was well integrated into the rest of the text. The characters were all interesting and distinct although some less well developed than others. My only critique about the book was that there were about 4 places where the book could have ended naturally.

Very interesting and sad. Celeste is living in Chile with her family when the president is assassinated and a general takes over. The book covers the disappearances, Celeste's exile in Maine, the search for her parents and the attempt of the country to return to some sense of normalcy with the death of the general. The spanish text was well integrated into the rest of the text. The characters were all interesting and distinct although some less well developed than others. My only critique about the book was that there were about 4 places where the book could have ended naturally.

I really enjoyed the poetic phrasing of this book while also learning a little bit about the country of my sister-in-law. When I came upon a chance to try an empañada, I did so because Nina Celeste ate them so often.

Reading children’s historical fiction I am always amazed at how much I don’t know about other countries. Celeste’s family is torn apart by a dictator’s rule in Chile. Although never mentioned by name, Pinochet is the model. History does repeat itself, as evidenced in her grandmother’s memories of escaping the Nazis in Germany. Agosin’s description of the dictatorship as an “earthquake of the soul” is poetic language for a horrible event. Eleven-year-old Celeste’s account of the disruption of school and family puts a real face to history. Both her parents go into hiding and she emigrates to Maine, living with an aunt until the dictator is deposed. Excellent historical fiction.

Poetry, translation

Editor: Marjorie Agosin

About this title: A poet and political activist, the author of this memoir recalls growing up in Chile, and especially how the religious and cultural traditions of that country conflicted with those of her family, who were Jewish refugees from Austria. Eventually, political unrest upset Chile, too, and Agosin's family fled to Georgia, giving her the feeling of permanent exile, which she details in this book.