What do you think?
Rate this book
My Two Flags
Antonio Amaya’s life revolved around his family, his friends, and one to live in the United States. When the dream becomes reality, the drastic change creates daunting challenges. Antonio endures exclusion and disdain from his new schoolmates by turning his disillusionment inward. Yearning to belong, he fills the pages of his notebook in the hopes of learning English. But how does a thirteen-year-old overcome language barriers, racial slurs, and bullying while hiding his desire to return to his country from his parents, who have given up everything to live under two flags?
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2013
2 people are currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
Javier A. Robayo
4 books51 followersJavier A. Robayo emmigrated from Ecuador in 1988 at the age of 13. He kept journals in Spanish and translated them as a way of learning English during his freshman year in high school. In March of 2012, this practice led to the publication of The Gaze. He lives in Connecticut with his wife and two daughters, where he's busily at work on his next novel.
for more, visit www.javierrobayoauthor.com
for more, visit www.javierrobayoauthor.com
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 20, 2014
Wow....Have you ever read a book where you feel like YOU are the main character and you are living out each and every moment? Well, if you have not, then you have not read this book and you should. Absolutely amazing, not that I expected anything less from Javier. Job well done, my friend!
March 19, 2014
My 25th high school reunion went on without me. Why? Because most of my memories of high school weren’t good ones. I was shy, introverted, smart, and headed home at the end of the day. Things got better, as they always seem to, but not enough to willingly step into a time machine and spend a drunken evening with the older versions of bullies, passing acquaintances, and unrequited crushes.
As it happens, right around the same time, I read My Two Flags by Javier A. Robayo. If I thought I had it tough in high school, it was nothing compared to the travails of his hero, Tony Amaya, who in a very short span of time left his home country and his top-notch Catholic school education, to come to high school in America, where he didn’t speak the language. And I thought I had problems.
The best parts of this story are Tony’s story – starting a new life and a new school in the land of opportunity, finding his way among new friends and new enemies, and adjusting to life on what feels like an alien planet. There are parts of the book – his relationship with Patricia Paris, his experiences in marching band, his encounters with bigotry and bullying, that make the novel un-put-downable. This book has a little bit of everything: the trials of a transplanted patriot, the transformation of educated professionals in their native countries into unskilled laborers in this one, young love, the covetousness of higher class and increased wealth, the monumental sacrifices parents make for their children, and a snowball fight.
Robayo’s storytelling powers are at their peak when he deals with Tony’s story, told from Tony’s perspective. His grasp of this main character and his trials and triumphs are the best part of the novel. There are several downsides that I initially didn’t like, but upon further reflection realized that this is how life works: Tony meets a lot of people all at once in high school, and then many of them are never seen again, or then only fleetingly. His on again, off again romance with Patricia Paris peters out into an unsatisfying conclusion. His parents seem like shadowy, hard-working, nurturing, yet one-dimensional.
But this is how life works: you meet all kinds of people who become bit players in the stage show of your life, or are never seen or heard from again. Romance, despite its power, often goes nowhere, and children are hardly ever aware of the suffering and sacrifices of their parents.
The only true criticisms I have of the novel are two pet peeves of mine. The story starts slow, and in the supremely critical first few pages, I was tempted to put the book down and forget it. Authors have to know how valuable the real estate of their first chapter is; it is where the reader’s commitment to the book is won or lost. How many great novels have unseen last pages because the first pages failed in the only duty that matters—take the reader hostage and don’t let them go until the end. The other problem I had was that some of the dialogue seemed unnatural; I didn’t believe real people were speaking.
On the whole, My Two Flags, like high school, is worth sticking out till the end. On the last page, like graduation day, you will know for sure that it was a journey worth taking.
As it happens, right around the same time, I read My Two Flags by Javier A. Robayo. If I thought I had it tough in high school, it was nothing compared to the travails of his hero, Tony Amaya, who in a very short span of time left his home country and his top-notch Catholic school education, to come to high school in America, where he didn’t speak the language. And I thought I had problems.
The best parts of this story are Tony’s story – starting a new life and a new school in the land of opportunity, finding his way among new friends and new enemies, and adjusting to life on what feels like an alien planet. There are parts of the book – his relationship with Patricia Paris, his experiences in marching band, his encounters with bigotry and bullying, that make the novel un-put-downable. This book has a little bit of everything: the trials of a transplanted patriot, the transformation of educated professionals in their native countries into unskilled laborers in this one, young love, the covetousness of higher class and increased wealth, the monumental sacrifices parents make for their children, and a snowball fight.
Robayo’s storytelling powers are at their peak when he deals with Tony’s story, told from Tony’s perspective. His grasp of this main character and his trials and triumphs are the best part of the novel. There are several downsides that I initially didn’t like, but upon further reflection realized that this is how life works: Tony meets a lot of people all at once in high school, and then many of them are never seen again, or then only fleetingly. His on again, off again romance with Patricia Paris peters out into an unsatisfying conclusion. His parents seem like shadowy, hard-working, nurturing, yet one-dimensional.
But this is how life works: you meet all kinds of people who become bit players in the stage show of your life, or are never seen or heard from again. Romance, despite its power, often goes nowhere, and children are hardly ever aware of the suffering and sacrifices of their parents.
The only true criticisms I have of the novel are two pet peeves of mine. The story starts slow, and in the supremely critical first few pages, I was tempted to put the book down and forget it. Authors have to know how valuable the real estate of their first chapter is; it is where the reader’s commitment to the book is won or lost. How many great novels have unseen last pages because the first pages failed in the only duty that matters—take the reader hostage and don’t let them go until the end. The other problem I had was that some of the dialogue seemed unnatural; I didn’t believe real people were speaking.
On the whole, My Two Flags, like high school, is worth sticking out till the end. On the last page, like graduation day, you will know for sure that it was a journey worth taking.
August 6, 2014
Antonio Amaya moves from Ecuador to America, a dream his family have looked forward to. Aged just thirteen Antonio does not find the transition easy. In a new country and in a new school, he finds himself unable to fit in, due to language barriers, and prejudice. Antonio tries to fit in while going through the normal traits of being a teenager. A wonderful told story about what it is like to be different in a strange and new country, adjusting to a new world and adapting to the surroundings, about feeling out of place, not fitting in, overcoming bullying and prejudice, and learning a new language. Making friends and starting a new life.
I really felt for what Antonio was going through, and wanted to reach out and help. Also I learnt a lot from this book about what it is like to move to a different country when you do not speak the language, and now understand how difficult this can be. We have all had times in our lives were we have felt like outsiders and that we do not fit in, the awkwardness and loneliness of the situation is written beautifully by the author.
I really felt for what Antonio was going through, and wanted to reach out and help. Also I learnt a lot from this book about what it is like to move to a different country when you do not speak the language, and now understand how difficult this can be. We have all had times in our lives were we have felt like outsiders and that we do not fit in, the awkwardness and loneliness of the situation is written beautifully by the author.
March 2, 2014
It's never easy moving from one area to another. It's even tougher leaving a country you have grown up in for one that you've dreamed about during those growing up years. However, reality sometimes does not match up to our dreams. Tony Amaya discovers this first hand in this amazing book that follows his first year in America.
This is n amazingly told tale that had me actually in tears the final two chapters. It also speaks out about how people can treat newcomers and it isn't always nice. The book is well crafted and held my attention from the moment i picked it up.
This is n amazingly told tale that had me actually in tears the final two chapters. It also speaks out about how people can treat newcomers and it isn't always nice. The book is well crafted and held my attention from the moment i picked it up.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews