Antes de ser libres (Before We Were Free)
Now available in Spanish, the book Horn Book called “a realistic and compelling account of a girl growing up too quickly while coming to terms with the cost of freedom.”\ I wonder what it would be like to be free? Not to need wings because you don’t have to fly away from your country?\ \ From award-winning author Julia Alvarez comes the story of Anita de la Torre, a 12-year-old girl living in the Dominican Republic in 1960. Most of her relatives have immigrated to the United States, her Tío...
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Me pregunto cómo se sentirá ser libre: ¿No necesitar alas porque no tienes que salir de tu país volando? De la galardonada autora Julia Alvarez nos llega la historia de Anita de la Torre, una niña de doce años que vive en la República Dominicana en los años sesenta. La mayoría de sus familiares ha emigrado a los Estados Unidos, su tío Tony ha desaparecido, papi ha estado recibiendo llamadas misteriosas acerca de unas mariposas y de alguien llamado Míster Smith, y la policía secreta ha comenzado a atemorizar a su familia porque se sospecha que están en contra del dictador Trujillo que gobierna el país. Mientras Anita se enfrenta a una sucesión de acontecimientos aterradores, también pasa por problemas propios de la adolescencia y lucho por huir y por ser libre.Veronica E. Betancourt - Children's LiteraturePart The Diary of Anne Frank and part first-person novel, this book tells the story of Anita's life in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo dictatorship. The 12-year old writes not only of mysterious phone calls, secret police stakeouts, and the sudden evacuation of her cousins, but also of boys, growing up, and the desire to be normal and well liked. The compelling story takes Anita and her mother from their family compound into hiding in a closet, and finally to New York. Throughout these moves, we listen to Anita lose her voice as she learns the importance of staying quiet to survive. She wilts under the terror of Trujillo's dictatorship and only finds herself in documenting the events of her life in hiding. In this book, we witness the power of storytelling to sustain the will, as well as the ghastly realities of an oppressed country. Alvarez develops the complex changes in Anita's identity as a girl, Dominican, and writer effortlessly through Anita's candid voice. Valenzuela deserves congratulations for her preservation of Anita's accessible language in her translation; the story loses none of its momentum and intimacy. This 2002 Pura Belpré winner is an excellent novel for teaching the horror of dictatorship as well as the importance of freedom of speech. 2004 (orig. 2002), Dell Laurel-Leaf, Ages 10 to 15.
\ Children's LiteraturePart The Diary of Anne Frank and part first-person novel, this book tells the story of Anita's life in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo dictatorship. The 12-year old writes not only of mysterious phone calls, secret police stakeouts, and the sudden evacuation of her cousins, but also of boys, growing up, and the desire to be normal and well liked. The compelling story takes Anita and her mother from their family compound into hiding in a closet, and finally to New York. Throughout these moves, we listen to Anita lose her voice as she learns the importance of staying quiet to survive. She wilts under the terror of Trujillo's dictatorship and only finds herself in documenting the events of her life in hiding. In this book, we witness the power of storytelling to sustain the will, as well as the ghastly realities of an oppressed country. Alvarez develops the complex changes in Anita's identity as a girl, Dominican, and writer effortlessly through Anita's candid voice. Valenzuela deserves congratulations for her preservation of Anita's accessible language in her translation; the story loses none of its momentum and intimacy. This 2002 Pura Belpré winner is an excellent novel for teaching the horror of dictatorship as well as the importance of freedom of speech. 2004 (orig. 2002), Dell Laurel-Leaf, Ages 10 to 15. \ —Veronica E. Betancourt\ \
