Harbor Me

Haley’s uncle gives her a voice recorder. She plans to use it to record stories and will figure out what to do with them. She takes the device up to her room and practices using it. The first story Haley records is her own. She explains her background, including her parents’ fates and her Irish last name, McGrath. She also mentions the ARTT room and reflects that the land her school sits on once belonged to Dutch settlers who stole the land from the Lenape tribe of Native Americans. She and her classmates had a deep conversation about that topic. Ms. Laverne has the students think about how the Lenape were mistreated and how they could be a “harbor” for others in need. The chapter ends with Haley wondering what her mother’s voice sounded like.

The next Friday in the ARTT room, the six classmates gather around. Holly shocks them by taking off her school uniform shirt to reveal the t-shirt underneath. This sparks a conversation about rules requiring them to wear uniforms, and about the rules adults insist on in general. Haley shows them her voice recorder and explains her idea of recording stories. Amari takes a turn, attempting to rap into the recorder, which amuses Esteban. Holly insists that it is for telling stories. Esteban takes a turn. Haley encourages him to talk about his dad, but Esteban is reluctant because he is sad about it and it makes him scared. He agrees to give it a try after the others encourage him.

Speaking into Haley’s voice recorder, Esteban shares how his father works “in a factory in Queens sealing video games in plastic” (42). His father comes from the Dominican Republic, is devoted to his family, and works hard to provide for them and lay the groundwork for a better future. He admires what he perceives as the ability of a person in America to take charge of their own destiny.

Amari asks Esteban about his father’s aspirations, and Esteban tells him that his father loves poetry and wrote poetry himself, though he stopped because he needed to work and provide for his family. Esteban also tells them that his father is a terrific baseball player. Esteban dreams that his father was a professional player but knows that he is in a difficult position now that immigration has taken him. The other students try to assure Esteban that things will turn out all right. Esteban turns off the voice recorder for a moment to reveal that his family fears his father has been sent back to the Dominican Republic and that they will have to go back because they cannot support themselves without him. Haley gets up and hugs Esteban at the end of his story, and the others praise his storytelling.

Another day, Esteban tells his classmates how much he misses his father and how his family fears his father has been sent to a detention center in Florida. Amari wonders aloud about how it is possible for a person to be taken from their home in in America, noting, “Supposed to be the land of the free, but we free? Nah” (50). Amari notes that there are rules everywhere, especially those imposed by adults. Holly counters that they do have some freedom, arguing, “It’s not like before when we couldn’t swim in pools or go to stores and stuff because we were black or something” (50). Amari counters that Holly has particular freedom because her family is financially well off. The others, he insists, don’t have money, so they can’t simply go anywhere they want. Amari continues by noting that they can’t even feel free to wear a hoodie and feel safe. He spends his time drawing, and that day he draws guns, insisting that a picture could not hurt anyone. Holly protests when he points a picture of a gun at her. Amari becomes sad and solemnly notes that they are at least free to speak in the ARTT room.