Mama's Nightingale: A Story of Immigration and Separation

By: Edwidge Danticat

"After Saya's mother is sent to an immigration detention center, Saya finds comfort in listening to her mother's warm greeting on their answering machine. To ease the distance between them while she’s in jail, Mama begins sending Saya bedtime stories inspired by Haitian folklore on cassette tape. Moved by her mother's tales and her father's attempts to reunite their family, Saya writes a story of her own—one that just might bring her mother home for good.

With stirring illustrations, this tender tale shows the human side of immigration and imprisonment—and shows how every child has the power to make a difference."

Awards:

• National Book Award finalist

• Jane Addams Children's Book Honor Award

• CCBC Choices Book of 2016

Discussion Questions:

• What is Saya’s Mama’s nickname for her and what does it mean?

• When Saya’s Mama first went away, what did Saya miss the most?

• Why is Saya’s Mama in Sunshine Correctional?

• What does it mean that Mama doesn’t have “papers” and why can’t she use Saya’s papers, as she suggests?

• Why does Papa write letters to the judges, mayor and congresswoman? How do you think Saya and Papa feel when no one writes back?

• What is it like for Saya when she visits Mama at Sunshine Correctional? How do you think she feels and how do you think Mama feels? How does Saya feel when she has to leave? How do you know?

• What do you think Saya wrote in her story about her Mama?

• Have you ever written a letter or story about something important as Saya did? How did Saya feel when she heard about her story being printed in the newspaper?

• What decision did the judge make and how do you think Saya and Papa felt when she told them?

• What did you notice in the book that showed aspects of the family’s Haitian culture?

• When Saya says, “I like that it is our words that brought us together again,” what does she mean?