Definitely a good read. Well deserving of the Printz Award. I just don't know how readable it is for high school students? I really wish he would have incorporated what happened to the Haitian community during and after the earthquake. Did any light shine through? Lake was in darkness for the most part, but did have many metaphors with words that conjured some light. I like the metaphor, but the uprising of the slaves felt a little distant from the earthquake. The view into Haiti's slum is powerful by itself. I think Lake masterfully tied all the strings as close together as he could, but there was just a bit of a disconnect. I guess that was supposed to be the spiritual voodoo part, but I didn't love that. As a person who wants to believe in that kind of connection, I was sorry not to feel intrigued by the Haitian history.
The rest was good enough to write down some of Lake's thoughts:
See? I've been in darkness before. Maybe I wasn't shot in the arm, but in the heart and all this hell ... Papa's murder ... where I'll always be ...
Really good! Thanks Nick Lake for one of the best books of the year!
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