“If they do come here, they’ll show us no mercy,” thirteen-year-old Evangelina overhears her father say as she gathers eggs in the chicken pen. Back at the house, Mamá brushes away her fears of revolutionaries. There are even more chores than usual to be done at Rancho Encantado because her sister’s quinceañera celebration is rapidly approaching!
It’s the summer of 1911 in northern Mexico, and soon the de León family learns that the rumors of soldiers in the region are true. Evangelina’s father decides they must leave their home to avoid the violence. The trip north to a small town on the U.S. side of the border is filled with fear and anxiety as they worry about loved ones left behind and the uncertain future ahead.
Life in Texas is confusing, though the signs in shop windows that say “No Mexicans” and some people’s reactions to them are all-too clear. At school, she encounters the same puzzling resentment. The teacher wants to give the Mexican children lessons on basic hygiene! And one girl in particular delights in taunting the foreign-born students. Why can’t people understand that—even though she’s only starting to learn English—she’s just like them?
With the help and encouragement of the town’s doctor and the attentions of a handsome boy, Evangelina begins to imagine a new future for herself. This moving historical novel introduces teens to the tumultuous times of the Mexican Revolution and the experiences of immigrants, especially Mexican Americans, as they adjust to a new way of life.
Click here to listen to a Houston Public Media interview with Diana J. Noble about Evangelina Takes Flight.
Click here to listen to Houston Community College interview with Diana J. Noble about Evangelina Takes Flight.
Named a Junior Library Guild selection
Winner, 2018 Tejas Foco YA Fiction Award
Named to 2017 Southwest Books of the Year
Winner, 2017 June Franklin Naylor Award for the Best Book for Children
Included in Southwest Books of the Year 2017
Runner-up, Texas Institute of Letters’ HEB Award for Best Young Adult Book
Recipient of a 2018 Skipping Stones Honor Award
Named to HISD’s Name That Book list for middle grades
Diana J. Noble named to the Texas Library Association’s The Spirit of Texas Reading Program for Middle Schools
“Written in Evangelina’s conscientious voice and containing parallels to some of today’s current events, this hopeful, yet sometimes heartbreaking, novel is a fast and important read.”—Booklist
“Using the first person with Spanish sprinkled throughout, Noble propels the novel with vivid imagery and lovely prose, successfully guiding readers behind an immigrant family’s lens. Loosely based on Noble’s own grandmother’s story, this debut hits awfully close to home in the current anti-immigrant political climate.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Honest in its exploration of xenophobia, and timely in its empathetic portrayal of a refugee family, Evangelina Takes Flight is a vibrant and appealing historical novel.”—Foreword Reviews
“Noble’s poetic yet accessible prose allows the reader to slip into Evangelina’s world and understand that problems can be overcome with perseverance and bravery.”—Latinxs in Kid Lit
“To understand immigration and, in particular, why Latinos have been crossing the Rio Grande to the United States, there is no better book than this one. Know it is likely that this is also the story of your ancestors just a few generations ago and, by extension, your story. It could change your life, and that of someone else.”—Oneota Reading Journal
A native of Laredo, Texas, DIANA J. NOBLE is a human resources specialist for the Boeing Company in Seattle, Washington. This is her first published book, which is based on the life of her paternal grandmother and stories of her own childhood.
ATOS Interest Level: Middle/Upper Grades
Category: Young Adult
ATOS: 4.7
LEXILE: 730L
Accelerated Reader Quiz #: 191433EN
Click here for teaching activities for the book.
