“I Lived on Butterfly Hill” (YA Fiction)

I Lived on Butterfly Hill by Marjorie Agosin is seen through the eyes of sixth-grader Celeste Marconi who lived an idyllic life in Chile before the devastating onslaught of the Pinochet regime. Her family lives in the Valparaiso Hills near the Andes Mountains. Celeste and her school friends ride the cable cars up the mountains or walk the paths that lead to ice cream stands and other treats. All joy comes to a screeching halt when a military dictatorship assassinates the democratically elected president and radically changes Chile. A reign of terror sweeps over the liberal citizens like Celeste’s parents who are doctors that treated the poor. Books are burned in the streets. Families are grabbed from their homes and become the disappeared. Celeste’s parents go into hiding and she is sent to Maine to live with an aunt. Celeste lives in the cold climate in rural Maine where she must learn a new language and live a very different life. Finally, Pinochet dies and slowly life returns to normal. Refugee stories are as topical as today’s headlines. Celeste is a survivor who learns to adjust to new conditions while retaining her core values. Agosin doesn’t shy away from the true horrors of this time, but the resilience and optimism of Celeste and her loving family manage to mitigate the dark times and allows a happy ending.

New York: Antheum Books for Young Readers [2014]. Reviewed by Lillian Hecker, Children’s Services Librarian. For ages 10 and up.