Carmen T. Bernier-Grand,
Frida: Viva la Vida! Long Live Life!
Marshall Cavendish, 2007.

Ages 14+

Carmen T. Bernier-Grand’s Frida: Viva La Vida! Long Live Life!, the second in her series of "Biography in Poems", is an ambitious undertaking. It presents Frida Kahlo's story, in all its difficulty, through twenty-six poems, accompanied by twenty-four quality reproductions of Kahlo’s work. Puerto Rico-born Bernier-Grand, now based in Portland, Oregan, also authored Cesár, !Si, se puede! Yes, We Can!, an ALA Notable Children’s Book and a Pura Belpré Honor Book. Frida has also won both awards.

If Bernier-Grand's poetry sometimes fails to stand alone, that lack is overcome by her project's strong overall vision. Teenagers familiar with Kahlo's tortured story will certainly find the book a compelling portrait of this famed Mexican self-portraitist, whose life was full of both physical and emotional pain. But adults, too, will appreciate how powerfully the poet's spare, forceful imagery informs Kahlo's paintings and life.

All but one of the poems are in Frida's own voice, sometimes in language taken from her own words (in translation). "Will I ever heal after thirty-one surgeries:/ hip, spine, foot. And twenty-eight corsets:/ three made of steel, three of leather, the rest of plaster?" she asks in "What Do I Live For?" Diego answers, "So that I live, Fisita!/ So that I live." Frida concludes, "My Diego, I'm no longer alone./ You lull me to sleep and make me come alive."

Unsparingly, Frida reports Diego's affair with her sister, the loss of her unborn child, and how "I hardly paint./ Instead I play at being his wife. / …I belong to my owner." She gradually learns independence through her work. "I have to paint before the pain returns./…Feet, what do I need them for/ if I have wings to fly?" The final poem, "No Me Olvides," reports Frida's death at age 47 and Diego's grief: "Diego looks as if his soul has been cut in two..."

Following the poems is substantial background material, including quotes from Kahlo's letters and diary, a chronology of her life, a glossary, a list of sources, and other reference materials. For young adult readers ready for the strong medicine of a challenging biography, Frida offers healing and inspiration.

Charlotte Richardson
September 2008