The Color of My Words

The Color of My Words
By: Lynn Joseph
Multicultural/International Literature

This book is about a girl named Ana Rosa, who lives in the Dominican Republic with her family. Although being a writer in the Dominican Republic wasn't usual for someone, Ana Rosa wants nothing more than to be a writer when she grows up. During this time only the President was able to write freely, and according to Ana Rosa; many writers who where brave enough to "hurl words at our government, have died." Knowing that she loved to write, her mother encouraged her to keep quiet with her writing until she left the island. Since her family didn't have enough money to buy her a notepad, she stole her brothers notepad that he used for work. When Ana claims to see a "sea monster" in the Samana Bay, the village asks her to write an article about it. Everyone is proud of her story her brother even agrees to buy her a notebook every month for her writing. The "sea monster" turns out just to be a humpback whale and eventually leaves the bay. Ana Rosa's father teaches her to dance by listening to the "music of the sea" and she gets excited when she tries to use this new ability to win over her crush, Angel. Angel is her brother Guario's best friend. Unfortunately, Angel is more interested in Angela at the Christmas fiesta. Ana Rosa's Papi drinks a lot, especially on Sundays, and always asks her "I'm your Papi, right?" Then one day a stranger on a mule gives her five pesos and she learns from her mother that the stranger was her real father. She is upset, but decides that her family is still her family no matter what. The government wants to buy their village's land and Guario takes the lead in standing up for his village. Since the land has already been sold, they have no choice but to try and fight back with words. Because of the strong love she has for her brother, Ana Rosa decides to write an article that is printed in three different newspapers. Even though her mother was unhappy, everyone in the village was on their side. Their work is unsuccessful and the engineers come the next day to tear down the village. Guario decides the only way to fight now is with violence. They gather bats, broken bottles and stones and head out to face the workers. Unfortunately, the day that happens to be Ana Rosa's birthday also turns out to be the day of her brother's death. He had been killed and she felt responsible. She stops writing and doesn't start back until 6 months later when they finally celebrate her birthday and give her a typewriter (which was an idea of her brothers). She decides that what she will write next will be Guario's story.


This is a good book to expose students to other cultures because it presents things about the types of celebrations/fiestas they have, the kinds of foods they eat and the dances of the Dominican Republic. It also has random Spanish words used throughout the reading that can be easily understood or translated. This book also has various pages with sections that present comprehension and thought questions for the reader to use. These sections include questions about things like "before you move on, characters motives, setting and what will happen next." At the bottom of each page there is also an interpretation for phrases in bold. For example: examined=looked at, my cheeks were hot with shame=my cheeks turned red because I was embarrassed. This book also contains various poems that Ana Rosa wrote during her experience. This could be used in the classroom as a way to present your students with an idea of what the Dominican Republic is like. This can also provide the opportunity to discuss how important it is to appreciate the country we live in because we have very few restrictions. You could have your students write poems about something they experience or see, which will be similar to the poems Ana Rosa wrote.