Go and Come Back

Format: Paperback, 177 pages
Release Date: July 2000

You live in the Peruvian jungle. The only people you know are your fellow villagers. And then, one day, two strangers arrive....
Late one day, just before dinnertime in the Peruvian jungle village of Poincushmana, two old white ladies from New York arrive in a boat. Everyone hurries down to the riverbank to greet them -- everyone but Alicia. She doesn't understand why the rest of her tribe, the Isabo, are making such a fuss. But as the days pass, she too is drawn in -- because the old ladies (who are really in their twenties and anthropologists) are stingy, stupid, and fun to watch. They don't understand the Isabo. Someone needs to set them straight. And that someone, surprisingly enough, is Alicia.
Reviews

First-time novelist Abelove introduces readers to a sparkling world hidden deep within the Amazonian jungle of Peru, through the eyes of Alicia, an Isabo teenaged girl. There is no word for goodbye in Isabo; when two people part, they say "Catanhue," which means go and come back. Abelove exposes such subtleties of language and cultural differences as she tenuously stretches the lines of communication between the young protagonist and "two old white ladies" from "the New York." Initially, Alicia finds the pair who have come to study her cozy village stingy and wasteful. Laden with possessions, the women share none with the Isabo and suggest they move into any old house no one is using (Alicia reacts, "Whoever heard of a house no one was using?.... It takes a long time and a lot of people to build a house"). But she gradually befriends the two "old ladies" (who are actually in their 20s) and teaches them about her customs, about love and death, and about generosity. With Alicia as a guide, readers experience the everyday pleasures of a good meal or a daily morning dousing in the river as well as her quiet acceptance of life's brevity. Indeed, Alicia's cognizance sounds a foreboding note: the author, who based the novel on her own experience studying such a village, writes in an endnote that whether the village or its people still exist is unknown. Abelove seamlessly constructs a culture that may feel more real to readers than their own, and juxtaposes two markedly diverse cultures who ultimately discover more commonalities than differences. Ages 11-up. (Apr.)
Gr 8 Up‘A young teenage Indian girl narrates this engaging novel that deals with the impact of two American anthropologists who come to live for one year in her Peruvian jungle village. Alicia finds the outsiders interesting, although their ignorance and stinginess is a source of consternation and sometimes amusement. She has other concerns, too‘she is supposed to marry her sister's husband, and she rescues and adopts a baby who is at risk from its abusive Peruvian father. By the end of the novel, the baby has died and the two "old ladies" (in their late 20s) are leaving, but both peoples have learned a lot about one another's humanity. The life and customs of the Indians are presented in a matter-of-fact way by Alicia, whether she is telling the strangers that it is important to have sex with several‘but not too many‘men in order to have strong babies, or that children must learn to lie well. Indian words and phrases flavor her speech. This compelling novel is based on the author's field work in the early 1970s; however, the group is given a fictional name and the information about their customs is anecdotal and never overwhelms the narrative. The spirited heroine evokes Karen Cushman's Catherine, Called Birdy (Clarion, 1994).‘Pam Gosner, formerly at Maplewood Memorial Library, NJ
"Introduces readers to a sparkling world hidden deep within the Amazonian jungle of Peru.... Abelove seamlessly constructs a culture that may feel more real to readers than their own".
-- Publishers Weekly, starred review

Publisher: Puffin Books
ISBN: 0141306947
EAN: 9780141306940
Dimensions: 18.03 x 11.18 x 1.52 centimeters (0.11 kg)