Across So Many Seas
A song, a faith, and an instrument unite four young girls across centuries and continents in Ruth Behar’s tale of the mass expulsions of Jewish families from Spain in 1492. Behar tells the story first through the eyes of Benvenida, a talented twelve-year-old poet, who is forced to flee her country to protect her faith. Benvenida and her family navigate terrible danger and travel across Spain on foot to board a ship to save their lives.
At every turn of the journey, Behar has her young readers in mind. She skillfully hints at the terrible violence Jewish families faced and the losses they suffered while never directly depicting that violence. Benvenida is a sensitive and protected child, and the author applies that same protection to her young readers.
What Behar does reveal to her audience is the unequal treatment of girls and women throughout history. When the story jumps across time to 1923, we meet twelve-year-old musician, Reina. Benvenida’s artistic spirit is alive and well in her distant Turkish relative, but that same fearless spirit leads to Reina’s exile to Cuba. Like so many before her, Reina transports her Sephardic culture to a foreign land.
While the young girls in this story face marginalization and violence, their strengths remain rooted in family, faith, and music. Although loss and heartache dominate the novel’s first half, love and remembrance dominate the second half. As Reina’s story moves to the present day and becomes her daughter’s and granddaughter’s story, a narrative of remembrance and healing unfolds. It is remarkable to watch not only these personal journeys but also the journey of belief and culture that has united a people for over 500 years. I highly recommend it for ages 10 and up.
