Publishers Weekly Review
This expansive tale, composed of interwoven stories, features members of a family tree that spans five generations and two continents, united in their sense of displacement and longing for a homeland where they can thrive. Alternating between the United States and Liberia, Gibney (See No Color) captures moments of wrenching decision-making in her characters' lives. The opening story, set in 2008 in a Minnesota community roiled by ethnic tensions between Liberians and African-Americans, features drug-dealing teenager Kollie, whose parents return him to Liberia to learn to "be a good boy there again." In the second story, set in 1926 Liberia, 18-year-old Togor flees brutal Congo soldiers. The third story follows Yasmin and her family as they move from 1827 Norfolk, Va., to Monrovia, Liberia, to escape slavery and establish a home. The final stories circle back to Kollie's immediate family-concluding with a chapter devoted to his queer younger sister, Angel, in 2018 Minneapolis. With riveting, lyrical prose, Gibney's accomplished novel explores universal themes of home, family, power struggles, and endurance while demonstrating the liberating power of storytelling. Ages 14-up. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. |
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-The author's sophomore novel follows the disjointed immigration patterns experienced in one African family. Kollie Flomo is a young teen struggling to connect his American and Liberian identities. His apathetic performance in school and the bullying he experiences from his African American classmates exposes an explosive anger he can barely control. After a school skirmish leads to a public shaming of the family, Kollie's father sends him back to Liberia in an effort to reform him. Kollie's ancestor Togar's experience with immigration is completely involuntary. Slavers partnered with other Africans in a bid to supply plantations with free labor. His attempts to evade the slavers infecting his country result in a net loss of identity and family. Togar's great granddaughter Yasmine is a free African American woman in slavery-riddled America. She decides to take a gamble on a repatriation scheme orchestrated by white men that promises a better life for her children. This story that highlights the inconsistencies between the beliefs a country projects to the world at large and the realities experienced by immigrants. The African and American characters in this story are hoodwinked multiple times by their adopted and birth countries. The disconnect between a dream fulfilled and a dream diminished by reality negatively impacts the characters' view of themselves and their place within their chosen countries. The importance of giving immigrants power to create their own story is wonderfully illustrated in this book. VERDICT An excellent choice for both public and school libraries.-Desiree Thomas, Worthington Library, OH © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |