Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna

I could not put this book down! The author paints a picture so vivid that you feel like you are right alongside the main character.

I loved everything about this book and I'm an adult. Skilled writing, beautiful, endearing characters, moving and genuine story. Didn't want it to end.. So many parts that will stay with me.

The story takes place in Northern Mexico in 1913 while the Mexican Revolution sweeps across the country. 12-year-old Petra is now in charge of her family -- her grandmother, sister, and baby brother --after her mother has died and her father has been conscripted into the army by the Federales. Even in this day and age, it's still rare to find well-researched, thoughtful, exciting historical fiction for children with Mexican or Mexican-American main characters, so this book adds some much-needed diversity to the genre. Since it was inspired by the author's family stories, that brings even more truth and relevancy to the novel. Children will enjoy learning about the real-life powerful women who inspired this book. This is also a story of immigration and the challenges facing refugees, a subject that is especially relevant today. Thank you, Alda Dobbs, for creating a strong but vulnerable female character that readers can relate to and cheer on.

You'll want to read and read until you get to the end, and then you'll want to start it again. Characters you care about in situations that grab on to your heart. This book belongs on every bookshelf.

“Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna” by Alda P. Dobbs, is such a beautiful piece of work. It will make you cry from the sheer emotion it holds, as well as remind us all that life is too precious. It teaches the importance of family, love, culture, and believing in something bigger than either of us. This is a book you will never forget, even when you finish reading it. Like foot prints in the sand, it will leave a mark on your soul.

This is a heartbreaking story about Petra, her grandmother and her siblings trying to survive the revolution rages from Mexico. I loved it.

Petra’s life in early 1900s Mexico is hard-she’s hungry, desperately poor, mother died in childbirth, father was conscripted into the Federales and hope is hard to come by. But rather than giving up, she digs down deep and continues to honor the promise she made to her father to take care of her abuelita and younger siblings. The four cross the desert in search of somewhere to call home after their town is razed to the ground and the men/boys forced to join those who are terrorizing the countryside and finally find a group of rebel fighters and the families that travel with them. When hope is snuffed again, the weary group marches on, ending up at the bridge to America. Alda Dobbs’ historical fiction novel is based on her great-grandmother’s story of being pursued by the Federales with thousands of others, coming up against a closed gate to the US at the Rio Grande River, but ultimately being allowed into the United States and a detailed timeline of the Mexican Revolution is included after the author’s note. Readers will be swept into Petra’s story; the tension stays high and even when the bridge crossing is done, resolution is incomplete. Fortunately, the story will continue in “The Other Side of the River” and librarians need to be sure to have that one on hand for middle grade readers who finish “Barefoot Dreams.”

I am an adult who read this book and really enjoyed it. The story is heart wrenching and powerful. The author shares the emotional and physical struggle of Petra and her family as well as others enduring such horrible circumstances. I appreciate the author's ability to show the nuance in characters, for example the grandmother is wise about surviving the desert but also has sexist ideas about the role of women. I think this book can be read by 9 year old kids and older but has violence and death so parents might need to help children navigate the emotions that come up.