Before We Were Free

Module 3

SLIS 5420/Module 3/June 21-27

Book for this module

Before we were Free by Julia Alvarez

Bibliographic

Alvarez, Julia. (2004). Before we were Free. New York, NY: Random House, Inc.

Summary
Before We Were Free is a story of a family living life under a tyrant. The family had several relatives who successfully made their way to the United States. Anita is trying hard to understand why people are moving away and what is taking place around her. At some point her home is invaded by the SIMS a secret service group, and they stake out her home for days at a time. The family members move cautiously throughout the home sleeping in the same room. The question still remains what is going on and why? Anita's father and other members who attempt to overthrow the government in an attempt to create a better life are captured and killed. Anita and her mother eventually move to the United States where they are free, but a part of them still remains back home in the Dominican Republic, and although people call her father a hero there still remains an emptiness that will never be filled. Freedom to them would be a whole lot better if dad was still around.

My Impression
The book was well written and easy to follow. Young teenage girls will easily relate to this book in the area of Anita's body going through changes as she becomes a young woman. This book opened up my eyes in many ways of a better understanding of lengths that individuals go through to obtain freedom. Sometimes what we take for granted Before We Were Free gives a quick jolt of how many people are still living under a cruel dictatorship in 2010. This book had my emotions going in alot of different ways with an overwhelming sense of compassion. This book brings a sense of appreciation and a wake up call to freedom that we sometimes forget that we have and need to be reminded. Anyone who reads this book will appreciate the author's work and the realistic viewpoints.

Reviews
Publishers Weekly
In the 1st YA novel Alvarez (How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents) proves as gifted at writing for adolescents as she is for adults. Here she brings her warmth sensitivity and eye for detail to a volatile setting the Dominican Republic of her childhood, during the 1960-1961 attempts to overthrow Trujillo's dictatorship. The story open as 12 year-old narrator Anita watches her cousins, the Garcia girls abruptly leave for the U.S. with their parents: Anita's own immediate family are now the only ones occupying the extended family's compound. Alvarez relays the terror of the Trujillo regime in a muted but unmistakable tone; for a while Anita's parents protect her both from the ruler's criminal even murderous ways and also from knowledge of their involvement in the planned coup d', tat. Later as Anita understands the adults conversation and what is going on her father and uncle are arrested and she and her mom go into hiding at a friend's home living out of a closet. Alvarez conveys the hopeful ending with as much passion as suffuses the tragedies that precede it a stirring work of art. Ages 12-up.

Use in Library Setting
This book could be used as a short history lesson on freedom. Granted it is fairly long but with well thought out segments and examples it could definitely be done. This is a book that could be a part of a reading book club, and after the completion of the book the students could turn parts of it into a play. This book covers cause/effect, tyranny and dictatorship that should be covered in a history class.