Thursday, April 4, 2013

Have You Seen Marie? Sandra Cisneros


Title: Have You Seen Marie?
Author: Sandra Cisneros
Publication Year: 2012

Publisher: Random House
Edition: print
Source: Library
Date Completed: March - 2013
Rating: 4/5 
Recommend: yes

 

Have You seen Marie? is tender story of both words and illustrations told in fewer than 100 pages. It is a story that deals with the loss of a loved one, the grief and sometimes even paralysis that can follow, and finally the beginning of the critical healing process, so important to one's future well-being. 

Losing a mother is painful regardless of our age at the time of loss.  Author Sandra Cisneros, was 53 years-old when her mother died. After her passing Sandra hid herself from the world while mourning her loss.   When Sandra's friend, Roz decides to visit her, traveling by car, from Washington State to San Antonio, Texas she brings her cat Marie along on  the trip.  Like most cats Marie is not thrilled with the ride, and once they arrive in San Antonio, Marie manages to escape.

A search for Marie by Roz and Sandra begins by canvassing of the neighborhood where Sandra lives. While doing this, they see many of Marie's neighbors going about their normal everyday activities: kids playing, people working in their gardens, a mom jogging while pushing her baby in a stroller. With each person they meet the question, have you seen my cat Marie is asked.  As Sandra talks to the many interesting people who live close by, she in turn begins to heal from the loss of her mother. 

Cisneros’s story and Ester Hernandez’s illustrations show readers that grief is a normal reaction to death. Moving beyond the grief is harder, but a necessary part of the process. 



I thought the book was really well done, the illustrations are great as well. This book would make a great gift for someone you know who is dealing with the loss of a loved one.

8 comments:

  1. That does sound like a very sensitive book. Grieving is so different for everyone but animals sure help.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This sounds interesting - it's not my normal type of book, but I'm compelled to give it a look.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am going to check this one out as we recently experienced the death of my father-in-law.

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds just lovely. I'm going to look for this as well!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I would love to look through this one...sounds wonderful to a person who really needs it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. My mom is going through this right now so I will suggest this one too her.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for taking the time to visit and double thanks for any comments. If you ask a question in your comments, I will try to reply to it here, or by email if your settings allow me to do so. Thanks again for visiting.