Antes de ser libres

Anita Alvarez is ten years old in the Dominican Republic in 1960, living in a family compound with her cousins, aunts, and uncles. Her life changes when the dictator Rafael Trujillo's secret police begin to target her family, and her father and uncle get caught up in a conspiracy against him. The family goes into hiding and eventually must flee. Julia Alvarez, who lived through a similar episode as a child, writes for young readers about what it meant to be afraid, and about how a girl comes to understand politics.

This is a good fit for middle-grade readers and classrooms learning about Latin American history. Adults who read Alvarez's In the Time of the Butterflies might want to try this simpler story about the same era.

Balanced in tone; an easy read.

Best for readers like The Story Seeker. Which reader are you?