Deborah Ellis,
Sacred Leaf: The Cocalero Novels
Groundwood. 2007.

Ages 11+

The sequel to Deborah Ellis’ much acclaimed I Am a Taxi, Sacred Leaf is no less fast-paced and gripping. The story takes up immediately from where I Am a Taxi left off.  Diego is living with the Ricardo family on their coca-growing farm in rural Bolivia.

As he slowly recovers from his previous ordeals, he finds himself torn between his increasing contentment in his new-found freedom and the desire to get back to Cochabamba and his family, who still have no idea whether he is alive or not. Decisions are taken out of Diego’s hands, however, when the farm is raided by the Bolivian army, who destroy the coca and thus the family’s livelihood. He joins the protesting cocaleros (coca farmers) whose barricades of the country’s main highways bring the country to a standstill.

Alongside the overshadowing political events, Ellis focuses on the interaction between characters and the effects of the tensions on their relationships.  Diego is provided with a worthy foil in the form of the suspicious young daughter of the Ricardo household, Bonita, whose feisty intelligence makes the sparks fly. There is also Emilio, the asthmatic son of Vargas, one of the cocolero leaders. The honorable captain, whose thankless task it is to break up the demonstration, forges a relationship with Diego based on mutual respect.  It is almost impossible not to draw comparisons between him and the villain Smith who was so prominent in I Am a Taxi: and this highlights the shift in perspective in the sequel.

Through her narrative, Ellis brings the events themselves alive - there is no romance to sleeping on a barricaded motorway bridge, and excitement gives way to horror as tear gas is brought in. Ellis also draws attention to the human dilemmas involved – where a country’s army is required to destroy the livelihoods of people many of them believed they had joined the army to protect.

The story ends on a note of hope for Diego’s future. There is hope for the situation in Bolivia too, as revealed by Ellis in her concise but informative Author’s Note at the end. The dénouement will fill readers with relief that Diego has emerged safely from his experiences, and they wil be sorry to say goodbye.

Marjorie Coughlan
November 2007