The Honorable Prison

by Lyll Becerra de Jenkins

Because of the moral stand taken by her father, a newspaper editor who has persistently attacked the military dictator ruling their Latin American country, Marta and her family find themselves prisoners of the government.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction

Hardcover

First published February 20, 1988

Reviews

[Anne Osterlund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marta's family knows escape is necessary. Her father's work, speaking out as the owner and editor of a dissenting newspaper against the latest dictator, has drawn the ire of the escalating regime. So the Maldonado family makes a plan.

But the soldiers come too early. The entire family is detained and taken to live in a shack on a military base high in the mountains of their country. Their father is under house arrest. Their mother is allowed only to attend church. The children may go into the local village, under guard, to shop for precious goods--food, aspirin, bug poison. But there is no doctor. Only the one who serves the army and he will not provide care or medicines for her father's long-term condition.

Time is the enemy.


The Honorable Prison is a Scott O'Dell award winner. It is a fairly short book--only 200 pages--that packs a punch. The story creeps up on you, holding out threads of hope: a friend here, a gift here, a potential connection and way out. But connections are targeted by the regime. Hope can feel like the enemy. And death is the constant threat.

[Esteban · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seré honesto, durante la mayoría del libro no entendía lo que estaba ocurriendo (tenías como 12 años cuando lo leí) y realmente no captaba lo que estaba ocurriendo, ¿por qué los protagonistas estaban atrapados?, ¿qué era eso tan importante que los limitaba a aquel espacio? Hasta cierto punto siento que literalmente leí el libro con los ojos de la protagonista.

Fue solo al final, cuando entendí el contexto de la guerra y el valor del silencio, que entendí el fuerte drama que se vive en cada una de las paginas. A pesar de que no pasa nada que pueda ser considerado "gore" consideró la historia muy densa y cargada de una significancia bastante subida de tono.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Powerful tale of a family put under house arrest at a remote military base because the father refuses to stop publishing newspaper articles criticizing the dictator of a Latin American country. It's told from the point of view of the oldest daughter, 17, who narrates the story sparely but with great emotion. The terror of the imprisonment, the arbitrariness of the guards, and their slowly disintegrating situation are all woven into a strong tapestry of what it is to be young and powerless. Wonderful story.

[Arya F. Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first of my mother's YA novels, THE HONORABLE PRISON, is from the point of view of a young girl, about a family in exile in an unnamed Latin American country. I helped her edit the book. so I am hardly an unbiased judge of this economical masterpiece of characterization and tension, which won The Scott O'Dell Award for Best Historical Fiction in 1989 and was subsequently translated into 15 languages. Her subsequent novels were: CELEBRATING THE HERO, and SO LOUD A SILENCE, which is the favorite among most of her readership of young adults.

[Johan Alexander · Rating 2 out of 5]

Me gustó. Es un libro bastante crudo y peca de entretenido. No obstante, ese final me dejó decepcionado, francamente.

2.5

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 2 out of 5]

C. YA, fiction, Latin America, rebellion, family, hardships, Mom's stash, discard

[Santiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very important book with very important topics.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this is supposed to be children's book, it was very violent, and had some sexual situations in it that should have been left out. I would not recommend it.

[Daniel Méndez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le daría cinco estrellas pero el final deja mucho que desear.

[Javier Campos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hay un párrafo que no creía que existiera en una literatura juvenil. Me dejó con un escalofrío!

[Wendy Melissa]

The Honorable PrisonLa Prision de Honor