Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

This book was inspired by the author’s family stories of the Mexican Revolution. When government armies destroy twelve-year-old Petra’s village and home, she’s forced to lead her grandmother, younger sister, and baby brother through the trackless desert to survive. They encounter kindly monks, ruthless federales, and a band of Villistas who want Petra to join them, but she never veers from her determination to take her family to safety and freedom. This is a powerful read, and I’m thankful and appreciative for the insight it offers into war’s effect on helpless citizens, and the enormous courage, strength, and determination… show more.

Anyone can describe the taste of chocolate or the sound of a woodpecker. I was completely taken when Alma P. Dobbs describes the taste of a wedge of sotol after the protagonist Petra, her younger sister, baby brother, and grandmother flee into the desert when soldiers invade their town. The words of this simple description convey the bitterness of sorrow and loss with the sweetness of family still being together. This happens at the beginning of the book, and the sensory description just continues from there. 

I was enthralled by this book about a twelve-year-old girl escaping war-torn Mexico in 1913. I love how Petra is tough and fiercely protective of her grandmother and her younger siblings, and how she will stop at nothing to keep them safe. She is driven by the desire to go to school and learn to read, and she always confidently holds her head up high, no matter what obstacles are thrown her way.