Darkness approaches as Paulie runs to borrow a live coal from a neighbor in Belle Fleuve on a Haitian beach. After the girl fans a flame from the ember placed on seaweed, her Grann Adeline will cook a small fish for supper. Paulie's uncle, the village coffin-maker, has begun to build a boat. Uncle will craft the vessel by cunning, construct it with used boards and nails, caulk it using pig hair with burlap, and grace it with a worship pole. Until now, Uncle, Grann, and their community have struggled to survive under the slavery of constant hunger, the shadow of a teacher's disappearance, the gradual erosion of their freedoms and governance through terror. Paulie's parents are already "across the water" in Miami. An American journalist wants their story to reach the outside world, but his video camera holds as much danger for them as a gun. By the time Paulie and those surviving the voyage reach another shore, readers will be familiar with a folktale about hope. Like Paulie, they will find out about the Amistad, another boat dedicated to life. They will realize that one can be killed or changed by "habits of truth." Temple's fine prose, deft dialogue and compassionate heart fill a terrific story that takes readers behind the faces in the evening news, straight to the people whose lives hang in the balance. Honor Book, 1995 CCBC Newbery Discussion (Ages 10-14)

Seek life. Chache Lavi. That's what Paulie's uncle says they must do. But to seek life, Paulie and her family have to leave Haiti-the only home that Paulie has ever known. Since forever, Paulie has run in and out of the little houses nestled under the palms, smelling cocoa-bread and playing on the beach with her best friend Karyl. But now the little houses are gone. Their wood has been made into boats-boats used to escape Haiti.

Paulie wants to stay and fight-to change Haiti into a better place to live. She wants to talk to the reporters and bravely tell the truth, like Karyl's brother, Jean-Desir. But the macoutes come with their guns and knives to stop them. And they do something so terrible that Paulie must face the truth: before the soldiers come back, they must all leave-tonight, by sea.