This module was about the "other" awards (not Newbery or Caldecott). In Darkness won the Michael L. Printz Award in 2013. "The Michael L. Printz Award is an award for a book that exemplifies literary excellence in young adult literature. It is named for a Topeka, Kansas school librarian who was a long-time active member of the Young Adult Library Services Association."
Book Summary
Shorty lives in the densely populated and severly neglected part of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, called Site Soley (Cite Soleil), where residents live in extreme poverty. We meet our main character while he is stuck under the rubble of a hospital destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. He was in that hospital recovering from a gun shot wound as Shorty is a member of a street gang, one of the only options for the youth of Site Soley. We journey in and out of memories with Shorty, learning about his family, his past, and his views on life, while every other chapter takes place from the perspective of Toussaint L'Ouverture, leading the slave rebellion and Haitian Revolution that began in 1791. In the novel, we meet L'Overture from the very Vodou ceremony at Bois Caiman where the slave rebellion really started in history. Through these juxtaposed chapters is an obvious but unspoken connection between Shorty and L'Ouverture.
My Impressions
This book is part historical fiction mixed with magical realism, and it is done brilliantly. While mildly confused at first, once I realized what the author was doing in crafting the novel to alternate from Shorty and then L'Ouverture's perspectives, it served to enhance the book even more. There is a lot of alternating in Lake's story. There are words and phrases in Haitian Creole and Site Soley slang, many not offering an explicit English translation. Lake, a white British man, takes care to not portray Vodou in the racist ways it is typically misrepresented in Western media.
This was a book that I could not put down. While disturbing at times due to the graphic violence, it is certainly not gratuitous and makes the book such a compelling read. It is an important book to read in order to get a glimpse of what it can be like to live in extreme poverty in one of the most dangerous slums in the world, in one of the poorest, most neglected countries in the world. Add to that a 7.0-magnitude earthquake.
Professional Review
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. Grades 10-12
(PUBLISHER: Bloomsbury (New York:), PUBLISHED: 2012.)
Rochman, H. (2012). [Review of the book In darkness, by N. Lake]. Booklist, 108(9). Retrieved from http://www.clcd.com
Ideas for Librarians
This book could be used for a book club discussion with older teenagers. We could have two meetings to discuss the book, one before reading to get the kids prepared--there are violent and disturbing things that take place in this book--and then one after reading. I would give the kids a set of questions/prompts to guide them through their reading and I would establish a blog or some kind of internet venue where I could check in with the group, and the kids could post questions or comments during reading. At the post-reading discussion I would also give the participants resources if they are interested to find out more information, such as information about the country of Haiti, Toussaint L'Ouverture, the Haitian Revolution, the 2010 earthquake and its ongoing aftermath, information about how to help Haitians and/or teens living in poverty either abroad or in our very own community, and the author's website address and links to interviews and/or articles with the author or about the book.
References
Lake, N. (2012). In darkness. New York: Bloomsbury.
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