Reference: Cofer, Judith Ortiz. The Line of the Sun.  Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1989.

            This novel discusses the life of a Puerto Rican family and their journey from Puerto Rico to the United States.  The first half of the book takes place in the 1940’s and 50’s in the small village of Salud and the narrator of the novel, Marisol, depicts the story of her grandparents, parents, and uncles long before she was born.  Familial tensions, issues of religion, and gender relations are major themes that the novel focuses on.  And this first part of the novel in particular uses these themes in the context of tradition in their very small and close-knit village.  Once the novel’s setting shifts the New York, the story begins to surround more specifically around the narrator, Marisol and her identity formation living in a land where her parents and ancestors to do not understand and have no connection to.  Living in this liminal state proves difficult for Marisol, and once familiar figures from Salud come into her life, she begins to learn and understand herself better.

            I thought this book was intriguing, smart, and well-written.  I think it would be a great novel to teach in an English class, I would probably gear it towards high school students rather than middle school because of the complicated metaphors that are used throughout the story.  But it is because of those complicated metaphors and overlapping themes that I believe this novel would do very well in an English classroom.  Both boys and girls would be attracted to the story, although the narrator is a girl, the majority of the first half of the novel comes off as a third person omniscient narrator.  The themes are relatable to the students in that it deals with building one’s own identity and trying to figure out where one fits in while balancing where your family fits into one’s life and one’s concept of identity.  The Line of the Sun is a very rich novel that would be easily teachable and enjoyable for all parties to read and discuss.