On the Wings of a Hummingbird

At 15 years old, Petra must grow into the lessons of the Mayan hummingbird as she carves her future out of a childhood scarred by gang violence.

Petra’s life has been upended by local gang violence in her small Guatemalan village. Her childhood friend Emilio had a hand in their friend Justina's murder, and his father is the local gang leader’s right-hand man. Betrayed by Emilio and abandoned by her mother who has fled to the U.S., Petra now fears for her own life. She is also beginning to become aware of her sexuality; a week before Justina’s murder, they’d kissed.

With the help of her grandfather, Petra searches her suppressed Mayan heritage for wisdom about forgiveness, redemption, claiming one’s future, and healing. The Mayans believed that the hummingbird was in charge of carrying the thoughts of humans between the earth and the gods. That hummingbird flutters inside Petra, sometimes appearing as an imaginary friend, carrying messages from her daily life to her determined spirit.

Petra ultimately flees to the U.S., but the pressures follow her there. As she attempts to reconcile with her mother over the abandonment, Petra is alarmed that her mother disregards the danger when Emilio shows up near their home.

Through a sometimes mythical lens, On the Wings of a Hummingbird explores how healing can happen after trauma, how an individual and community may rebuild after trust is shattered, and the wavering line between victim and perpetrator. At its crux, a young girl carves out a future for herself in the face of impossible choices.

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What People Are Saying

 

“There is poetry and hardship to spare in Mills's mesmerizing novel … a profound meditation on the human capacity for repair, for regeneration." 

- Junot Díaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, which won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award

“A story about growing up through violence and loss, and a fable about how faith and intentionality help an adolescent girl make sense of a world filled with chaos. The reader will learn about Guatemalan folk lore and mythology, gang rituals, and the vagaries of the US immigration system. A tale about coming to America and making a new life. It's a page-turner with a sympathetic main character who is practical and resourceful but who is also in touch with magical dreams filled with Mayan gods.”

-- Erica Walch, Former Director of Moore Free Library and Italian-English, translator of Le Strade by Ada Negri, Newfane, VT

“When gang violence threatens fifteen-year-old Petra in her village in Guatemala and follows her to the streets of Providence, she draws on the strength of her family, village elders, and Mayan culture as she tries to find a way to make her dreams a reality. In this provocative debut, Susan Mills illuminates the human reasons for and costs of immigration. Lyrical, thrilling and thought-provoking, Petra’s journey is irresistible.”

-- Barbara Morrison, Poet and writer, author of Innocent: Confessions of a Welfare Mother and Terrarium, writing instructor

“Susan Mills' On the Wings of a Hummingbird is an eminently readable novel about Guatemala and the resilience of its people. It illustrates how the power of love and community can triumph over the most dire economic and social conditions. I am certain that On the Wings of a Hummingbird will find a wide and devoted readership.”

 -- Pablo Medina, author of The Cuban Comedy

“ON THE WINGS OF A HUMMINGBIRD is an essential read for anyone who wants to understand more deeply the reasons people leave their ancestral homes in Central America, in this case Guatemala, and make the dangerous journey north. The main character, Petra, is a smart, thoughtful teen living with her caring indigenous grandparents in a small town in rural Guatemala where brutal gangs have been terrorizing residents, especially young women. It becomes clear over time that her refusal to give in to gang demands is endangering her grandparents, so she needs to flee to join her mother in the United States.The process of eluding the gangs and making a new life is a challenge, but Petra's insights into her experience will stay with the reader for a long time.”

-- Nancy Braus, Everyone's Books, Brattleboro, VT

“I have represented immigrants seeking asylum from Central America for over 30 years. I have never seen a more eloquent distillation of their story. Anyone who cares to understand the crisis at the border must read this book.”

— Stephen Born, Lead attorney at Boston area immigration law firm

“By weaving together the trauma of gender-based violence, the inescapable clutches of Guatemalan gang violence, and the resilience of the human spirit, Susan Mills has proven herself to be an incredibly impactful storyteller. This is one of the most realistic renderings of the struggle to address trauma and abuse on an individual level that I have seen in my 35+ years of work to end domestic and sexual violence.”

— Deborah DeBare, Senior Deputy Director, National Network to End Domestic Violence, Washington, D.C., and, formerly Executive Director of the RI Coalition Against Domestic Violence for over 22 years

“A fascinating voyage into the inner and outer life of Petra, a heroic young girl growing up motherless in an impoverished, gang-torn Guatemalan village. As she struggles to find her own place in the world, she must reconcile the contradictions and conflicts of an environment that has become all too distant from its Mayan roots. The book contains depictions of terrible violence – but also poetically evokes the glorious beauty of the Guatemalan landscape with its Mayan culture and mythology. Immigration, recovery from trauma, forgiveness, reconciling modern culture with ancient traditions, and much more— a marvelous story full of complex and timely issues. As a retired psychotherapist and someone who has lived for many years in third world countries, I find the story wonderfully authentic.”

— Margot Born, author of Seven Ways to Look at a Dream, professor of English literature in India and Turkey, also resided in Haiti, Australia, France, Bangladesh

“Susan Mills’s novel is fresh, imaginative, and grounded in a very real sense of girlhood as it intersects with family and culture, poverty, sexism, and the development of sexual identity.  As a university dean, I am well aware of how these issues play out among emerging adults of all cultures and classes. I was moved by how real the character of Petra is, and how much we identify with her without regard to the reader’s background.  By providing us with such a three-dimensional protagonist and a storyline that weaves easily between everyday life, memory, and imagination - and, finally, spirituality - Mills has given us a window into a very vibrant thread of the immigrant experience.”

— Carol Cohen, Academic Dean, Brown University

“This novel is an engrossing glimpse into the impossible life or death choices that daily face children and adolescents in Mexico and Central America--victims of cartels, corrupt governments, and organized crime. As a clinical counselor, I have researched and provided personal therapy around acculturation issues and psychological crises of Mexican and Mexican-American kids. The rampant violence perpetrated against children in the form of sexual and physical abuse (all over the world), particularly against girls and young women, ignores borders, and is always as close as family and friends. This story is a hard look at the question of forgiveness. Petra's journey as a survivor is inextricably woven together with re-claiming, or re-defining, one's own story, rather than being defined solely as a victim. Ultimately, her indomitable spirit and faith in the future made me want the story to continue even beyond the novel’s end.”

— Carla Zubiría, Clinical Counselor, Researcher on Mexican-American acculturation issues

A portion of the proceeds from sales of On the Wings of a Hummingbird will go to KIND, Kids in Need of Defense.

Please see the donation page here.