If you’re looking for something to read this month, Before We Were Free, by Julia Alvarez is a great pick! The book’s protagonist, Anita, is a fifth-grader in the Dominican Republic, a country in the Caribbean. Something big is going on in the DR! On a seemingly typical day of school, Anita’s cousins are called out of class; they must move out of the country that very day for their own safety. Anita gazes up at the picture of the Dominican dictator, El Jefe, that hangs in her classroom and holds in her tears so someday she might make him proud. But as events unfold, Anita begins to question everything she has ever known about her country. Life seems to be upside-down! Tio Toni is missing, Papi talks in code and listens to a secret radio station, and Mami is in a constant state of nerves. After the secret police come to tear through the family’s home, Anita overhears her father talking with the American consulate about danger, change, and a revolution! Could it be that El Jefe isn’t the hero she thought him to be? Anita will introduce you to her haughty older sister, her silly cousins, and the new boy at school whom she secretly envisions herself marrying. You’ll meet the eccentric Chucha—she refuses to wear anything but purple and sleeps in a coffin instead of a bed, Anita’s worrying Mami, and her inspirational Papi who changes the face of his country and teaches Anita the sacrifice it takes to be able to fly free! Before We Were Free is an excellent book and if this description pricked your interest in the slightest, Alvarez’s book will do far more. So go ahead and start reading; it’s an eye-opening journey.
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Jill Zappiateacher, grad student, bibliophile Archives
October 2015
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