In a village in Chile, Pedro and Daniel are two typical nine-year-old boys. Up until Daniel’s father gets arrested, their biggest worry had been how to improve their soccer skills. Now, they are thrust into a situation where they must grapple with the incomprehensible: dictatorship and its inherent abuses. This sensitively realized story touches a nerve and brings home the uncomfortable fact that some children do encounter issues of this magnitude. Here, deft realism is brought to the page by Antonia Skarmeta’s story and the edgy drawings of Alfonso Ruano, portraying a child’s view of a repressive society. The Composition is a winner of the Americas Award for Children’s Literature and the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award.

This book has been included in WOW’s Kids Taking Action Booklist. For our current list, visit our Boolist page under Resources in the green navigation bar.

Related: Chile, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Latin America, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction

array(12) {
  ["pubdate"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(4) "2000"
  }
  ["publisher"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(16) "Groundwood Books"
  }
  ["thumb"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(36) "50ddaf54bfd47191c9d5b544fda7c81c.jpg"
  }
  ["cover"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(35) "TheCompositionAntonioSkar1575_f.jpg"
  }
  ["pagecount"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(2) "32"
  }
  ["isbn"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(13) "9780888993908"
  }
  ["Illustrator"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(14) "Ruano, Alfonso"
  }
  ["Author"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(17) "Skarmeta, Antonio"
  }
  ["_edit_lock"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(14) "1599325774:283"
  }
  ["_edit_last"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "283"
  }
  ["_yoast_wpseo_content_score"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(2) "30"
  }
  ["_yoast_wpseo_primary_category"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(3) "153"
  }
}

• ISBN: 9780888993908
• Author: Skarmeta, Antonio
• Illustrator: Ruano, Alfonso
• Published: 2000, Groundwood Books
• Themes: Family, village
• Descriptors: Chile, Intermediate (ages 9-14), Latin America, Primary (ages 6-9), Realistic Fiction
• No. of pages: 32