Shorty, 15, is in a Haitian hospital
with a bullet in his arm when the walls fall down during an earthquake. As he
waits for help, drinking blood to try to quench his thirst, he remembers how he
got to the hospital and the haunting gang violence he witnessed in the slums:
his beloved twin sister was taken; his father was chopped to pieces. His mother
loved freedom-fighter Aristide, but his father did not. Shorty’s present-day
narrative switches back and forth with an historical plotline set in the
eighteenth century, when Touissant l’Ouverture, a former slave, led Haiti in
the fight for freedom, calling for justice, not vengeance, in the struggle to
emancipate the slaves. The constantly shifting narratives, large cast of
characters, and cultural detail may overwhelm some readers, and the unspeakable
brutality is not for the fainthearted. But older readers, especially those who
have seen the devastating footage of Haiti’s recent earthquake, will want to
read about the grim, contemporary drama and the inspiring history.
So, I have really mixed feelings about this book. I'll start with the good side. This is definitely a "substantial" book - it has high-level vocabulary, deals with serious issues (poverty and gang issues in Haiti, the Haiti earthquake, the history of slavery in Haiti and its fight for independence), and it would lend itself well to Common Core and cross-curricular activities. There are parts of it that would be high-interest and relatable to students - discussion of poverty, gangs, racial discrimination, etc. On the bad side, however, it really drags in some parts (particularly the "past" section about Haiti's fight for freedom), and I think many of our students will struggle with the vocabulary and shifting perspectives. I was getting lost with some of the names, and the author uses Creole and French words - some of which I was able to figure out from context, others of which I was not. It is heavy on violence, profanity, and discussion of drug sales - it's not a dealbreaker for more because it serves a purpose and is appropriate in context - but it's still worth noting as a potential issue. I also didn't really see the point of the two perspectives - while they tried to tie it together at the end, it's not really clear or convincing why the two are connected. So, I feel like it definitely fits the category of challenging reading with themes that are worth discussing and would be a book worth recycling over the years...but I think there are a lot of issues that keep it from being a strong choice.
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