Red Palms

I really enjoyed this book, and would suggest it to anyone who is looking for a very good historical book. The book is about a girl named Benita, who is forced to move with her family to an island just off the coast of Ecuador, because of the great depression. The natives that come to see who these strange new people are strike Benita as a bit crazy in the head. However, she comes to like a native named Raul, and they venture off together into the island's beautiful tropics. In the rainforest, she encounters a woman named Yanasa, who which doesn't speak the same language, finds her own way to communicate with Benita. Benita befriends Yanasa, and Yanasa helps Benita grow as an individual, and helps shape who Benita becomes in the end of the book. This book contains a powerful message within its pages, begging for readers to enrich themselves with the book's rich words.

The Great Depression of the 1930s has forced Benita and her family to abandon their comfortable life in Guayaquil, Ecuador for the lonely island of Paita that is uninhabited except for some fishermen and the mysterious, primitive natives. With her father coming up with one mad get-rich-quick scheme after another, her mother falling into a downward spiral of bitter regret, and no friends on the island to share her troubles with, Benita doesn't know what to do with herself. However, when Raul, the handsome young islander, starts showing interest in her, Benita is given the opportunity to flee her troubled home for an adventurous life in the wild jungle of Paita. But is this what she really wants? And what mysteries and life lessons await her deep in the heart of the jungle? Red Palms is an interesting and unique book. In fact, it is the uniqueness of the setting and the characters that make it stand out from other adolescent coming-of-age stories. The exotic culture the characters are immersed in and the wild tropical setting give the novel a unique feel to it; a kind of mango-flavored "punch" that is both welcome and refreshing. There are a few moral problems with the book, however. Throughout the middle and second half of the novel, the main character and her boyfriend are living together outside of marriage. This section of the book also contains a few short but rather graphic "intimate" scenes that the story could have done without. Also, in the latter half of the book, Benita gets mixed up in the pagan religion of the Paita natives due to a few very odd spiritual encounters with island spirits. Depending upon the religious background of the reader, they may or may not be uncomfortable with this. Armchair Interviews says: All in all, Red Palms is an interesting read, its strengths lying in vivid imagery and pure originality. If all the reader wants is a fresh summer read, this may be just what they are looking for.

After the Depression forces the Benita's family to fall from a high social and economic place in Guayaquil, Edcuador, Benita and her family are forced to sell all they own and relocate to a remote island, where her father dreams of creating a coconut oil plantation. Life on the island is harsh, both because Benita's family is ill-prepared for farm labor, and because Benita's Papa alternately cheats and insults the islands native people. When Benita falls in love with--and subsequently runs away with--a handsome islander, Raúl, she leaves her father's control behind, only to learn that the idyllic life she imagines is an illusion. Benita must learn to take control of her own life in order to survive. (H) Of the first novels released in 2004, RED PALMS may be the most ambitious--Haycak successfully weaves together a structurally-sound plot, exquisite writing, and a powerful narrative voice. The novel's exotic setting, historical timeframe, and unique cultural back drop make for a rich reading experience, and the character of Benita is one of the most memorable in several years.