The Sculpture Speaks: A Refugee's Story of Survival

THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS by Marge Pellegrino and Marianna Neil is a powerful, imaginative, compassionate work that will touch the hearts and educate the minds of readers. The story of refugees fleeing civil war, violence, and persecution in Guatemala in the 1980s and 90s should have played an important role in political discourse in the US. It did not. Nor does it now. The story, instead, has been relegated to the back burner of history. We know what happens when history is ignored. In fact, large numbers of young Guatemalans as well as Hondurans and Salvadorans are still crossing the borders in the southwest US as they flee from danger and violence, just as the protagonist Juana did in the 1980s. The harrowing story of one individual’s experience can motivate serious discussion of the issues and lead to understanding and even action. Co-authors Marge Pellegrino and Marianna Neil have created an imaginative re-telling, a fictionalized version that is as true as any documentary. We identify with Juana as she sets off on a dangerous journey from what was once a happy life with her husband and children. We learn from the statue things that Juana cannot tell us. And the sculptor brings immediacy to the portrayal of Juana as she sits for him. The presentation of facts and depiction of emotions are beautifully written and haunting. THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS personalizes the plight of thousands of refugees who fled Central America and continue to do so. Juana’s story makes us aware, too, of the courage of everyday Americans who risked arrest and punishment to make life safer and more secure for individuals fleeing certain death. In creating the story of Juana, co-authors Marge Pellegrino and Marianna Neil honor all who survived and all who didn’t. Reaching out to a larger audience, THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS will continue to honor them. ~Juanita Havill Writer and Poet Author of Grow: A Novel in Verse, and many other books. 100% of the proceeds from the sale of THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS goes toward the support the ongoing work of Owl & Panther, that provides expressive arts, service, and time in nature for refugee families impacted by torture, trauma, and traumatic dislocation. Owl & Panther also provides public and educational programs to help encourage a more welcoming community. In praise of THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS Of all the books, news articles, and PhD theses that have been written about the Sanctuary Movement, this book is certainly the most powerful. The authors are right: symbol and story have the power to transform human lives that data and fact do not. THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS will move each reader to a transformed understanding of refugees—a critical need in this time of anti-immigrant rhetoric and fear. ~Rev. John Fife, co-founder of 1980's Sanctuary Movement In THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS, a statue is brought to life; so is the woman who inspired that statue; so is the brave and perilous journey faced by so many refugees. With spare, powerful, language, Neil and Pellegrino have crafted a story that will wake you up, that will change you forever. ~Gayle Brandeis, The Book of Dead Birds “Not safe in her own country, she must flee north…she weeps without hope of ever seeing her children again.” This carefully researched and constructed testimonial sheds light on Juana’s journey of abuse and torture leading to her 1984 arrival in the United Sates at the start of the Sanctuary Movement. This movement, which has left a legacy of churches and organizations practicing advocacy and humanitarian aid to refugees throughout the country, was most likely seeded by the story of Juana’s epic journey. For this reason alone, THE SCULPTURE SPEAKS is a seminal work of lasting power. ~Barclay Goldsmith, founding director of Borderlands Theater