Books: On the Wings of a Hummingbird, by Susan Mills

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.

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

“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

“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

Author appearances
       – William Hall Library (1825 Broad St., Cranston), Wednesday, September 21 at 6:30 PM – A joint conversation with Michael Fine, author of Abundance and Rhode Island Stories.
        – Sprout CoWorking Space (166 Valley St., Providence), Thursday, September 29, 6:-8: PM – A joint celebration with Diane Josefowicz, author of Ready, Set, Oh, and Karen Lee Boren, author of Secret Waltz, open to the public, with food and drink, music, a multi-media presentation.
    – Books on the Square in Wayland Square, Providence, October 18, 6: PM – A joint conversation with Diane Josefowicz and Barbara Morrison (author of Innocent: Memoir of a Welfare Mother) — readings, book signing.

About the author – Susan Mills

The daughter of a civil rights activist and sister of a human rights and prisoner defense lawyer, Susan Mills has been steeped in social change since childhood. She studied theories of racism and sexism in college, became a lesbian feminist and worked for sanctuary for Central American refugees, finally returning to school to get a law degree and concentrate in immigration law.

As a Spanish-speaking immigration attorney for twenty years, Mills prepared asylum cases for thousands of immigrants from Central America, with a focus on unaccompanied minors. Some of her family members journeyed from the war-torn countryside of El Salvador to the U.S. She now lives with her woman partner, dividing her time between the green mountains of Vermont and the wonderfully diverse city of Providence.

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

Buy On the Wings of a Hummingbird locally at Books on the Square, at bookshop.org, or on Amazon.