Guillermina and the Rose

"Guillermina and the Rose" is one of the finest books that I have read.  This story begins with Robert taking a quick seventeen mile trip from San Diego to Tijuana just inside the Mexican border.  He returned to see how the town fared after being there many years earlier during his youth.  This trip disturbed him as he saw children along the streets in less than healthy conditions.  He begin to inquire why they were on the streets instead of in school and soon was lead to an orphanage that seemed to represent the "Casa."  

This caused a great amount of interest within his mind as he was apart of a large computer firm in California and he wanted to get the computers within the orphanage to test how a child could learn English at an early age as their second language.  Soon the reader will find Robert inside the orphanage meeting with  the nuns that ran the orphanage.  After much persuasion he was allowed to place the computers within the school and then his life forever changed.  Not only had he med a young girl named Guillermina that totally stole his heart, but he learned about many activities that happened within the orphanage that caused great harm to the young girls.

Soon Robert's quest was much more than getting computers in the school and conducting this experiment, rather it was to get Guillermina out of this awful situation and away to a new life as well as helping all the other girls within this gated community.  I experienced happiness at the love of Guillermina and Robert who she learned to call "Daddy" and extreme anger at what was happening behind the walls of this orphanage. 

I can truly say it kept me reading and never wanting to stop.  I can happily say it ends with a great outcome or I think I would have been ripped apart with all the hurt and abuse these little girls suffered.

While there is much more that is presented within this book than a quick review will allow, I can say without hesitation that one can find themselves with a great amount of emotions running as you turn the pages of this fantastic book racing to the end toward a surprise and fulfilling ending.  The rose what does that mean?  Well don't stop reading till you find out, it is a remarkable part of the story.

5 of 5 stars.