Serafina’s Promise by Ann E. Burg. Scholastic Press, Oct. 2013. ARC received for review.

The book Serafina’s Promise is a realistic fiction book written in verse about a small girl with a very big heart. She lives with her family in Haiti and she dreams of becoming a doctor. Serafina believes that the only way that she’ll become a successful doctor is to go to school. But with a baby sibling on the way, storms, and endless chores to do, Serafina is finding her dream of a doctor fading farther and farther away. This amazingly written novel in verse was simply stunning; I usually don’t like novels in verse. This was an exception.

This story, although fiction, made me sad to think about all of those people whose stories are almost identical to Serafina’s. Never before has any book made me feel like this. I now look at the genre of realistic fiction a lot differently. It is almost like there are two types: Realistic fiction that takes place in the U.S., and realistic fiction that take place outside our country. This book made me think of how privileged we are, and we don’t even notice it.

Serafina is always grateful for what she has, despite everything else going on around her. She constantly finds the best in everything. I think that the characters What I like about the author’s style of writing is that it’s a very quick and short book, but there’s still a ton of emotion and feelings in it. Who knew that it was possible to cram all of that into a tiny book? I also like that the writing is inspiring. It doesn’t matter who you are or what your situation is, this story will change your worldview forever.

I’d definitely recommend this book to absolutely anyone at anytime. I loved this book, and you will too. I’d give it a 5 out of 5 stars!