Every Time a Rainbow Dies

by Rita Williams-Garcia

Book Overview

From Newbery Honor and Coretta Scott King Award winner Rita Williams-Garcia, Every Time a Rainbow Dies is a moving, lyrical, and diverse love story--perfect for fans of One Crazy Summer who are ready... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0688162452
• ISBN13: 9780688162450
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Amistad Press
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 7.3"
• Age Range: 13 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 8 and higher

Customer Reviews

Powerful

This book is very powerful. It to me shows a loner Tulani. His mom dies in Jamacia and he doesnt remember his dad, but he loves his birds that he lets out everyday. He sees a girl, Ysa get raped. He helps her and walks her home,but he never forgets her. This story is so powerful cause it shows that a girl that he doesnt even know can already posses his mind like that. It in my opinion is one of Rita's best works and I have read alot of her books. A must read.

Don't judge this book by its cover

This is a beautifully written book about two teenagers going through some tough times. 16-year-old Thulani lost his mother 3 years ago without even being able to say goodbye. Since then, he has lived in the grudging hospitality of his brother and sister-in-law, who want to "man him up" and have him conform to their ideas of what he should be doing in his life. He spends most of his time tending his pigeons on the roof of the Brooklyn brownstone where he lives. The pigeons are his only interest in life . . . until one day, he hears a scream. Down on the street, a girl is being brutally raped. He yells at the rapists to stop and runs to help the girl (You like him already at this point). He takes her home, but finds that he is obsessed with the girl, whose name is Ysa.I just loved this book. It wasn't the type of book where you are turning pages quickly, waiting to see how it will end. Rather, Williams Garcia's poetic writing and fully-realized characters give you the feeling of people you know. You just want to move in and stay there a long time.

Fabulous book for mature readers.

When Jamaican-born Thulani hears Mr. Dunleavy talk about his pastoral homeland, Thulani wants nothing more than to escape the old man?s ramblings. Clearly, he is unimpressed by the sentimentality; he loves his manic neighborhood in Brooklyn far too much. It is not until the end of Rita Williams-Garcia?s Every Time a Rainbow Dies that Thulani appreciates his heritage enough to return to the island and make peace with his estranged father. This sensitively crafted, coming-of-age story infuses the eccentric culture of Jamaican-Americans with the universality of becoming an adult.One morning while on his rooftop, taking care of his pet birds, Thulani sees a girl being raped on the street below. After attempting to help her, he returns to the scene of the attack where he finds the skirt that was torn from her body. Rather than returning it to her, Thulani takes it back to his bedroom and pins it to his wall as a reminder of the mysterious girl who now captivates his thoughts. Little by little, he learns more about her?her name (Ysa), her ambition (fashion school), her background (Haitian). The precarious relationship the two adolescents form provides both of them with a safe environment to grow and to heal.The language is as colorful and exotic as a tropical carnival itself. Williams-Garcia artfully compares the stolen skirt to ?a hundred golden eyes of the peacock? (21). The image comes full-circle when Thulani finally folds the skirt away. ?He laid Ysa?s skirt on his bed and folded it in half, fourths, then eights, turning the gold and turquoise on the wrong side. Even so, he could still see her eyes before him, opening and closing, opening and closing, opening and closing?? (166). The relationship between Thulani and Ysa is treated with depth. Williams-Garcia never gives in to unconvincing dialogue or too-pat answers. Instead, she realistically depicts the elliptical conversations and uncertainty that characterize high school romances. Although the novel is beautifully written, the graphic nature of the rape scene in chapter one and the bedroom scene in chapter seventeen makes the novel appropriate only for mature readers. While the reading age is listed as grades nine through twelve, parents or teachers of children on the younger side of that spectrum would do well to approach this book carefully. But for those readers who can handle the candid nature of Every Time a Rainbow Dies, Williams-Garcia has written a story that is sometimes tender, sometimes edgy, but always touching and true.

every time a rainbow dies

Every time a rainbow dies is an excellent book. even if your not black it is a wonderful book to read and anyone can identify with the storyline. the book doesn't even center around the rape in which the story begins with, but the beautiful Ysa and Thulani's birds are the most treasured. The most beautiful part of the story is when Thulani finds Ysa's skirt and falls in love with her. he nails her skirt to his room and dreams about her. one of the best quotes in the book is, 'every time i see you , i think a rainbow dies.' how romantic! thulani is very mannerly and polite and acts appropiately as a man in love. books are often better when the couple is NOT together because the chase is always a better read, as was this book. the ending isn't sad at all it's like you know these characters and it's what you would do. i LOVE this book and hope everyone will get to read it!

Very moving and bewildering

One of the best books I have ever read, my teenage years are related to this book. A very original and creative piece of literary art.