Adarna House’s newest book will urge you to stand up to social injustices

Rea Gierran

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Adarna House’s newest book will urge you to stand up to social injustices
‘Al sur de la Alameda’ will be formally launched at the Manila International Book Fair on September 15

One of the most colorful  memories I have as an elementary student in a public school in Makati was  participating in Adarna House’s book drive.

We had to write our name, grade, and section in a small piece of paper shaped into a feather and pin it on a huge, stenciled illustration of the Adarna bird every time we finish reading a book. 

Filling up the Adarna bird with feathers wasn’t a dreary task. Even the rowdiest boy in our class can sit quietly on the floor and read for at least half an hour. And it was no surprise. Adarna has a unique collection of patriotic books about the Filipino culture  that could excite every kid. 

I didn’t realize how a huge part of my childhood Adarna books had been until Eli Camacho, Adarna House’s product development manager asked me which ones were my favorites: Bru-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha… Bru-hi-hi-hi-hi-hi… and Si Laon at ang Dragong May Pitong Ulo (Laon and the 7-headed dragon).

“The most rewarding part of publishing is knowing that we can be part of a person’s childhood, we can affect someone’s way of thinking, and we can participate in social discourse,” said Ani Almario, Adarna House’s vice president for product development.

So, they decided to publish the Filipino translation of renowned graphic novel, Al Sur de la Alameda. It started out as a diary about one of the student occupations during the Penguin Revolution in 2006.

Al sur de la Alameda has a lot of strong messages about politics and love for the country,” said Eli. 

Last September 12, Adarna House held a book talk at the Rizal Library in Ateneo De Manila University featuring the Chilean author, Lola Larra.

EMPOWERING STUDENTS. Ateneo de Manila University is one of the 5 schools Adarna House has chosen to host the book talk.

Lola and her family left Chile at the height of the coup d’etat and military dictatorship in 1973. When she returned in 2006, she witnessed thousands of students marching in the streets, occupying their schools to call for specific reforms to Chile’s educational system. Wanting to create a journalistic report, she recorded the protest in her notebook. “Two years later I recovered those notes and began writing a novel. But in the beginning, I didn’t think of reflecting a historical moment or documenting the Penguin Revolution. I was aiming for something simpler. I wanted to tell a story about what goes on in an occupation: what are their conflicts, how do they feed themselves, and how do they sleep,” said Lola.

LOVE FOR LITERATURE. Lola Larra will also be at the Manila International Book Fair on September 15 for her book's grand launch.

But everything changed when she realized the importance of what she was doing: talking about social justice and education as a basic right.

Al sur de la Alameda has won several prizes since its publication in 2014 and has also been translated to Korean and Italian. 

BOOK SIGNING. Lola took the time to sign all the books purchased at her book talk at Ateneo de Manila University. Here's my copy.

If you want to know more about Lola’s book, watch this book trailer.

 – Rappler.com

#GoodRap is a weekly column that aims to feature lighthearted yet meaningful stories from here and around the globe. We hope this provides an oasis for anyone who wants to take a quick escape from the gloom and doom of the everyday world.

 

 

Add a comment

Sort by

There are no comments yet. Add your comment to start the conversation.

Summarize this article with AI

How does this make you feel?

Loading
Download the Rappler App!