Sleeping With the Light On
David Unger
CHAPTER BOOK | 2020 | 96 pages
Life in Guatemala is simple for young Davico and his older brother Felipe ... until soldiers invade, and the blackouts begin.
Davico lives with his family above La Casita — the Little House — in Guatemala City in the early 1950s. But it’s not just a little house. It’s also the family restaurant!
The restaurant provides plenty of distraction and adventure for Davico and his older brother, Felipe. The mean cook, Augusto, and the always-late waiter, Otto, love to play tricks on Davico. There’s a huge oven that Felipe knows how to light — if he can only reach the box of matches above the stove. And don’t forget the glass tank of live lobsters — including the king of them all, Genghis Khan, who stares at Davico with round unblinking eyes. Could Genghis Khan climb on the back of the other lobsters and get out of the tank, Davico wonders. Could he move faster on land than in the water?
Then one day, Davico hears shooting in the streets. There are blackouts every evening, and the family must sleep under the big wooden table in the dining room. People stop coming to the restaurant, and tanks and soldiers swarm the front of the National Palace, where a shoeshine boy warns the brothers that the gringos are coming.
But what does that mean, and who are the gringos?
Davico wants to be brave, but the shooting and tanks and airplanes flying overhead terrify him. He finds comfort in the special lamp that his father buys him to endure the blackouts. But it is not enough to console Davico when his parents announce that it’s time to leave for the United States of America, where no one speaks Spanish, and everything is different.
Illustrated by Carlos Aquilera.
RIGHTS: english GROUNDWOOD BOOKS/HOUSE OF ANANSI | spanish (guatemala) F&G EDITORES
“With a clear focus on Davico and his family—and drawing on his family’s own history—Unger conveys the claustrophobia and anxiety caused by the looming war in just a few pages while building Davico’s life in broad yet vivid strokes. It’s a tenuous balance, especially for a story aimed at such a young readership, but the book works, thanks in part to Aguilera’s illuminating illustrations, which open each chapter. A bittersweet tale of life amid war.”
“This quiet, understated chapter book tells of the 1954 Guatemalan coup d’etat as seen from a child’s perspective, capturing Davico’s fear and loss of security. (...) Each chapter is enriched by the inclusion of full-page black and white illustrations that express the mood of the segment and add delightful whimsical details. While in time and place this specific situation is far away for Canadian children today, it speaks to the many similar situations occurring in strife-ridden countries even now, providing much opportunity for discussion. Sleeping with the Light On is an unusual and rewarding read for children aged 6 to 10.”
“In focusing on one child’s narrative, Sleeping with the Light On effectively tells the story of the thousands of children who have been forced to leave their home countries to escape war and invasion. It would be a treat to read this story in its original Spanish. Sleeping with the Light On is highly recommended.”
“Sleeping with the Light On is an outstanding portrait of the impact that war and immigration can have on a family. This heartfelt story is inspired by Unger’s own childhood and celebrates children’s resilience under the most challenging circumstances.”
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