About this item
Twelve-year-old Ana Rosa is a blossoming writer growing up in the Dominican Republic, a country where words are feared. Yet there is so much inspiration all around her -- watching her brother search for a future, learning to dance and to love, and finding out what it means to be part of a community -- that Ana Rosa must write it all down. As she struggles to find her own voice and a way to make it heard, Ana Rosa realizes the power of her words to transform the world around her -- and to transcend the most unthinkable of tragedies.
About the Author
Lynn Joseph was born and raised on the island of Trinidad and is the author of two middle grade books inspired by her island's folklore, A Wave in Her Pocket and The Mermaid's Twin Sister. "Mermaid" won the Américas Award for Children's and YA Literature in 1994. She has also authored award-winning picture books featuring the traditions and island life of Trinidad & Tobago: An Island Christmas; Jasmine's Parlour Day; Jump Up Time: A Trinidad Carnival Story, and Coconut Kind of Day, a collection of poems that follows a Trinidadian girl throughout her day.
Lynn travels extensively and writes about the places she has visited or lived including the Dominican Republic, which is the setting for her middle grade book, The Color of My Words, which was named an ALA Notable Children's Book, an International Reading Association Notable Book for a Global Society, a Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, and a Jane Addams Honor Book. It was also awarded the Américas Award for Children & YA Literature in 2000. A starred review by Kirkus said The Color of My Words is "An achingly beautiful story."
Lynn's YA novel, Flowers in the Sky, was published by HarperCollins in 2013 and features a 16 year old girl who moves away from her sleepy, small town of Samana in the Dominican Republic where she is known as the "flower girl" to negotiate life in fast-paced Washington Heights, New York, where she must find a new identity while renewing her bond with her beloved older brother whom she has not seen in over ten years. Kirkus Reviews called it, "A tale that needs to be told."
Lynn was the recipient of the Burt Award for Caribbean Literature in 2015 for her novel, Dancing in the Rain, which will be published April 2016 by Blue Moon Publishing in Jamaica.
Lynn is an attorney who attended Fordham School of Law in New York, and the mother of two sons, Jared and Brandt. Lynn graduated from Vermont College of Fine Arts with a MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults. For more information about Lynn Joseph, please see her web site at www.lynnjosephauthor.com. Or follow her on Facebook at Lynn Joseph Books.
