Book Council, 2001 Notable Children's Books (ALA), Top 10 Youth First Novels (Booklist), and Children's Books 2000-NY Public Lib.

Books for the Teen Age 2001 (NYPL), Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2001, National Council for SS & Child. SuperSummary’s Novel Unit for The Color of My Words by Lynn Joseph delivers comprehensive, text-specific, and classroom-ready lesson plans conveniently divided into Before, During, and After Reading sections.Follow our suggested timeline or choose from our rich array of prompts, quizzes, activities, paired resources, and essay topics. The Color of My Words explores the pain and the poetry behind what it means to be part of a family, what it takes to find your place in the world-and what it feels like to write it all down. This debut novel from poet Lynn Joseph is a lush and lyrical journey into the landscape and culture of the Dominican Republic. Gradually she learns that her words have the power to transform the world around her-celebrating what is most beautiful on her island and transcending even the most unthinkable of tragedies. But in a country where words are feared, Ana Rosa must struggle to find her own voice and the means for it to be heard. At twelve, she finds herself faced with turning points that will make up who she is-watching her brother's search for a future, learning to dance and to love, and finding out what it means to be a part of a community. Ana Rosa is a blossoming young writer growing up in a poor seaside village in the Dominican Republic. (Aug.Sometimes you have no control over what will happen next, as I discovered the year I was twelve years old. Still, it's a testimony to the power of Joseph's writing that the developments readers will empathize with most are those of greatest importance to her winning heroine. When the easy rhythms of the girl's island life abruptly change due to two major events, the author develops these cataclysms so subtly that readers may not feel the impact as fully as other events, such as the heroine's unrequited love. The brevity of the chapters showcases Joseph's gift for metaphoric language (e.g., her description of Ana Rosa's first crush: ''My dark eyes trailed him like a line of hot soot wherever he went''). The author's portraits of Ana Rosa and her family are studies in spare language the chapters often grow out of one central image-such as the gri gri tree where Ana Rosa keeps watch over her village and gets ideas for her writing-giving the novel the feel of an extended prose poem. Ana Rosa dreams of becoming a writer even though no one but the president writes books she learns to dance the merengue by listening to the rhythms of her beloved ocean and the love of her older brother, Guario, comforts her through many difficulties. Through the heroine's poetry and recollections, readers gain a rare intimate view of life in the Dominican Republic. In finely wrought chapters that at times read more like a collection of related short stories than a novel, Joseph (Jump Up Time) presents slices from the life of Ana Rosa just as she is about to turn 13.