Red Midnight

by Mikaelsen, Ben

• ISBN13: 9780380977451
• ISBN10: 0380977451
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-04-11
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

When guerrilla soldiers strike Santiago's village, they shoot at everyone in their path. Dos VIas is on fire, and the night glows red. "Take the cayuco and sail to the United States of America. Now go!" Santiago's uncle Ramos tells him, and Santiago, twelve, and his four-year-old sister, Angelina, flee. With a map, a machete, and very little food, Santiago and Angelina set sail in their uncle Ramos's sea kayak, built for just such an escape, but not for a sailor who is only a boy. Santiago heads for the United States on a voyage that will take them through narrow channels guarded by soldiers, shark, infested waters, and days of painful heat and raging storms. Santiago knows that he and Angelina probably will die trying to make the voyage, but they certainly will die at the hands of rebels or government soldiers if they do not try. In this tale of courage, survival, and triumph, Ben Mikaelsen introduces readers to a danger and fear that is far too real for many children, and he reminds us of the responsibility and power that the world's richest nation bears to help end it.

Table of Contents

Soldiers in the Night	1	(5)
The Cayuco	5	(9)
Learning to Sail	14	(7)
Coconuts in Los Santos	21	(6)
Pigs in The Maiz	27	(7)
Mud in the Gas Tank	34	(9)
The Home of Uncle Ramos	43	(9)
My Little Squirrel	52	(10)
White Butterfly	62	(7)
The Last Butterfly	69	(7)
First Night	76	(9)
First Storm	85	(7)
Pigs in the Cayuco	92	(6)
River of Garbage	98	(10)
Pirates	108	(10)
Two Shores	118	(8)
I Am Stupid	126	(8)
Notch Number Six	134	(7)
Angelina's Doll	141	(6)
The Last Land	147	(6)
Broken Like the Doll	153	(8)
Bad Fishhook	161	(8)
The Nail	169	(7)
I Can Catch a Fish	176	(6)
The Storm	182	(10)
Stars on the Water	192	(8)
Blue Sky	200	(11)
Author's Note	211