Because We Are

by Ted Oswald

Ten-year-old orphan Libète has been hardened by the daily struggle to survive in Cité Soleil, Haiti’s most infamous slum. But when she and her best friend, Jak, discover a young mother and her baby brutally murdered in a nearby marsh, it’s unlike anything she’s encountered before. Though initially shocked, the adults of Cité Soleil move on quickly from the event; after all, death is commonplace in this community. Undaunted, Libète takes action with Jak in tow, plunging herself into a dangerous, far-reaching plot that will change her irrevocably and threaten everything she holds dear.

Because We Are is a profound and mesmerizing tale of a young girl’s search for justice in an unjust world, set against the vivid and tumultuous backdrop of modern-day Haiti.

Genres: Fiction, Mystery, Audiobook, Historical Fiction, Adventure, Literature, Book Club

486 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 12, 2012

About the author

While a law student, Ted Oswald lived in Port-au-Prince and worked in Cité Soleil, where he became deeply invested in the community and met the feisty young girl who served as the inspiration for his character Libète. Because We Are: A Novel of Haiti is his first novel.

To connect, please visit www.tedoswald.com.

To download a free group discussion guide for Because We Are, click here.

Reviews

[Lee Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book means a lot to me. In fact, I have already read it twice! It is a compelling story, has an intricate plot line, and uses vivid word pictures. The main characters grabbed my heart, and the depictions of Haitian life made me almost feel like I have been there. It brought to light the devastating suffering that is ongoing in Haiti and enlarged my heart to care. But it also has a hopeful element. The author obviously spent time in the country and wove genuine experiences into his writing. I must say, I want to read more about Libete and Jak in the future! And I am moved that the book was written with the intention that all proceeds will go to well-respected humanitarian efforts in Haiti. That gives the book a sweet life of its own.

[David Gaddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing visual step right into the slums of Haiti. Almost everything was very familiar to me as one who has been a relief worker in Haiti, both in La Gonave and the mainland. Ted does a great job of immersing you into this land and examining the mental, physical, and social strife that exists. His characters also exemplify the Haitian resilience I have seen in many of the men, women, and children I have met there. The book just feels... real.

The center of this story is a murder mystery but if you are looking for a typical mystery novel, do not look here. Frankly the murder mystery really only serves as a backdrop to tell a story of personal growth, perseverance through trials, and ultimately loving others more than yourselves. The moral is that we must help each other, even those we don't like, and even bad people for the greater good. Libete constantly has to make decisions that don't make sense to her peers, but she makes them because they are the "right" thing to do.

Because We Are is a beautiful story of innocence loss, strength of will, and strength of spirit. Hopefully the story will leave you looking at those around you differently; asking yourself, "why you are." As Libete learns, "YOU are because WE are."

Yes this is a novel of Haiti. But the principles Libete learns on her adventures are principles we need everywhere, whether your tradition calls it ubuntu, agape, or simply an unconditional love for others.

[Leah Polcar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book's greatest strength is in the character development of the protagonist; Oswald does a remarkable job here. The portrayal of Haiti is also fascinating. I didn't find much new here, but the descriptions were accurate (from what I understand) and vivid. The weakness was the mystery that forms the backbone of this novel -- it wasn't particularly mysterious and wrapped-up too conveniently and, in my opinion, unrealistically. I also found some of the accessory characters a bit too stereotypical.

[Candice Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Hermes Aponte · Rating 5 out of 5]

WHAT A BOOK!!!

First of all, I would like to start off by stating that I received a finished copy of this book thanks to the Goodreads First Reads program almost a year ago, but it was not until now that I took the time to read it and, WOW, what I was missing!

This book delivered in so many ways. It did not feed up the reader with false promises. It did not fall flat nor relish itself in boring, we-have-seen-it-a-million-times plot lines that are so common in today's reads. It gave much more than that, went deeper than the majority of today's well known books. It gave insight in a grim reality that much of us seem to avoid. The striking truth that not far from were we are, a town, a country, people, are suffering, desperate and in need of help, in need of hope: this was the story of Libéte.

Libéte, a ten year old orphan, was the protagonist of this novel. She had to witness countless deaths of loved ones in front of her due to illness, crime, and natural disasters, making her a strong, relentless little girl. Don't let the age fool you. Libéte has probably more maturity and courage than all those female protagonists that star in the YA genre. She takes matters into her hands, headstrong, without fear. She sometimes makes impulsive choices due to her feisty personality, but they are all for the best: to bring about peace! Her best friend, Jak, proves to be much more than a trusty sidekick and friend, being her support and showing that those who want to learn will always find a way. There are many other characters so crucial to this story, but I will not get to them individually, yet I will only say that they were all remarkable and unforgettable.

The rawness in this novel was so palpable, and the author excelled in painting the picture of what the nation of Haiti goes through on a daily basis that made me question myself if I was doing anything in my power to help those around me. This book got to me, the way everything was portrayed. The social, political, and economical turmoil in Haiti does not compare at all with the situation in my country, and I am grateful for that, and pray that Haiti may come through this once and for all. One element I loved about this book was the way it wove God into the story and how, above all, hope prevailed.

I can't even write a coherent review because I was so amazed with this book. I recommend this to anyone. It is a heart-wrenching story about a young girl who sought to take justice into her hands, and about the struggles her fellow countrymen undergo each and every day. It opens up you view of the problems our world is facing and helps you meditate and question yourself: Am I being the seed of change I want this world to have? Am I making the change I so eagerly wait for? This book definitely needs to be read by more people because it was simply astonishing. Solid.

[Linda Eilertsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm struggling to explain why I liked this book so much, but I'm going to give it a try.

I don't know anything about Haiti. I still don't know if this book gives a faithful rendition of the place or the people, but I hope it does, because it's now my sole reference point. I kept looking up places, names, and historical events on the go to understand what was going on, and I'm just thankful that the internet exists, because thirty years ago all this background information would have been unavailable to me. Haiti's history is still alive and important to the characters and events in the book, and I almost found myself longing for an annotated version to explore everything I wanted to know. It was especially illuminating to see how the "help" from UN, charities, and development aid can look like from the other side.

There's a lot going on here, both big and small, and a young girl is at the center of it all. Sometimes the plot becomes really far-fetched; not only does Libète take it upon herself to solve a murder everybody else has given up on, but she wants to stop gang wars and topple the system in the process. There's a real risk of her becoming a symbol more than a person. I found it best to just follow the story and not think too much about it.

Libète sticks her nose into everything. In a more traditional murder mystery, a murder mystery content with being just that, she and her plucky side kick would have investigated the murder, helped the police catch the murderer, and the story would have ended. We're denied the satisfaction of this simple pattern. Instead, the murderer remains unknown for months, and Libète becomes a nuisance to everyone because she simply refuses to let go. She puts herself and the people around her in danger, never realizing the possible consequences of her incessant poking and prying. She's proud, rude, and selfish, and she rarely stops to think about how other people see her or are affected by her actions. As with Pip in Great Expectations, it's tempting to beg for somebody to put her in her place.

She is who she is partly because of her circumstances. She's always been poor; she experiences hardship after hardship, and there's no realistic reason to hope things will get any better. Instead of giving in/giving up, though, she tries to take control over her own fate. She is vulnerable and looks for stable grown-ups to love/teach/protect her, but is disappointed over and over. When she tries to help others, it often make things worse. It'd be easy to lose hope, and she does, at least partly, several times, but still she keeps going. The stubbornness that's so infuriating at times also manifests as something else: perseverance. She finds more and more of her own strength even as she thinks she is losing it. The murder becomes incidental - something to set things in motion, something to give the story a skeletal plot (murder - investigation - resolution), but the story isn't really a mystery. It's a story of Haiti, Cité Soleil, and its people, and about Libète and her finding herself and her place in the world.

The audio narration is very well done and added to the "feel" of the book. It made the shifts between past and present confusing, however, because there's nothing to signal when they occur. It often took me a few seconds and a double-take to realize there had been a shift. I don't know how this was done in the written version - in the audio it almost felt as if the shifts happened inside the same paragraph, even the same sentence. All in all, I could've done without them. I think the story would have built up nicely without the constant foreshadowing/references to things that had happened that we still didn't know about. They were more annoying than intriguing, and remain the one thing I didn't like about the book.

[Nate Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sad and powerful story

[Aurora Dimitre · Rating 4 out of 5]

~This book was won in a Goodreads Giveaway~
~3.75 Stars~

Because We Are follows Libete, a young girl who lives in the slums of Haiti. The book covers a lot of topics, though the main part of it stems from the murder of a young mother and her baby.

As far as characters go, that's where I thought the book really excelled. Libete was a great main character - she was exciting, she got up and did things instead of waiting for things to happen to her, and she does go through some nice character development throughout the novel. Her friend Jak was probably my favorite character, both in terms of how great of a character he was and how much I liked him.

I'm going to take an entire paragraph on Jak, because I really enjoyed his character. He's portrayed as a bit of a coward, though he is fiercely loyal to Libete and will do almost anything for her. Although, they do have a falling out about halfway through the book and he's absent for a while, he comes back better than ever. His character development was stellar - he didn't lose his defining traits, but he grew , and I really enjoyed that.

The only real problem I have with this book is the pacing. The beginning is slow and hard to get into, it picks up after about a hundred pages, and then there's a hundred and fifty pages of fast-paced, intense text, and then it slows down again and it's hard to pick back up. The plot itself is fun - it's a complex mystery that all ties together at the end satisfyingly, but sometimes it seemed to get sidetracked.

The writing itself is good. It's nothing special, and though the formatting is a little strange, it's not that hard to get used to. Knowing a bit of French added a little to the story, though it's definitely not a huge part.

The backdrop of Haiti was one of the best parts of the book - the way it was described and the way Libete interacted with her environment was fantastic .

Overall, I maybe would have liked it more if I was a bigger fan of this genre, but as it is, I still enjoyed it.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grim and gripping and sad, Because We Are is a work of social consciousness that cuts deep. At first, the parallels to Flavia de Luce seemed to leap to the fore: a plucky young heroine attempts to solve murders and puts herself into ridiculously dangerous situations while doing so, all in defiance of police orders to keep out of things. There's even an Inspector Hewlett arch-typical figure, although this Dimanche is cut from sterner stuff, as one would expect of a Haitian police officer attempting to preside over the snarling mess that is Cité Soleil. But the longer I read, the more those parallels seemed to recede. While the Flavia de Luce novels entertain, this novel attempts to educate. While this is not necessarily heavy-handed or distracting from the story, it is certainly overt.

According the the blurb, Oswald worked on this novel while living in Haiti, and it shows. In every line is etched the stark reality of life in such a place. The characters are true to the culture, their voices and reactions pitch-perfect. Although the children are very occasionally too wise for their years, readers will find themselves so gripped with the story that they are willing to forgive this minor issue.

When it comes to the way in which the story's timeline was unveiled, I'm a bit less forgiving. Although I think I understand why Oswald chose to tell the story in such a fragmented way, I will confess that I found the constant effort to keep track of the timeline to be hard going.

Recommended especially for those who have spent any amount of time in Haiti. Although the country's woes are rife with human drama, there really aren't many English novels set there. (Though not recommended for bleeding hearts, sensitive souls, or anyone who finds language, violence, and frank descriptions of the seamy underbelly of an inner-city slum to be off-putting.)

[Timothy Hoiland · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Because We Are we meet Libète and Jak, two kids from very different backgrounds who become unlikely detectives, intent on pursuing truth and justice in a land, I think it’s safe to say, that is lacking in rule of law (Paul Farmer has much to say about this when he describes “the history of the present illness” in Haiti). This murder-mystery story spans several years, including the days immediately following the earthquake of 2010, but also includes clashes with UN “peacekeepers” and local political campaigning, which reads at times like historical fiction. Coupled with vivid descriptions of the lives of these children and their neighbors, one begins to more fully grasp – not just intellectually, but on a deeper, more emotional register – what life must be like for those living in Cité Soleil, the slum community near Port-au-Prince where much of the story is set. In that regard, this book has similarities to Child of the Dark: The Diary of Carolina Maria de Jesus, a rare first person account of life in a Brazilian favela.

Good novels like Because We Are have a certain power to them, an ability to draw us in, arguably in ways nonfiction seldom can. In this case, Ted humanizes the Haitian people. His characters are not portrayed as angels – the book is too honest and believable for that – but neither are they portrayed as demons. But neither are they reduced to mere statistics, which, frankly, are at times the extent of what we know about those who inhabit places like Haiti. That humanizing effect in and of itself is perhaps Because We Are’s greatest achievement – now, when we hear stories in the news about events in Haiti, we can picture kids like these behind the scenes, kids not entirely unlike the kids we once were.

- See more at: http://tjhoiland.com/wordpress/2013/0...

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

This audiobook was almost 17 hours long and in print 400 pages. It should be 2 books. Because it went on and on I couldn't follow the story. I couldn't figure out the time span of the novel. It could have been years but it opened with the killing of a woman and her baby and at the end of the novel there was still a concern to find the person responsible. In Cité Soleil, part of Port au Prince, life is violent and poverty endemic. A death such as this one would not be the focus of so much effort for years so I assumed the time frame was several months. Part 1 ends and Part 2 we find out the earthquake has hit. Overall times didn't seem to be linear but jumped around adding to my confusion.

The heroine Liberté is a young Haitian girl.Few characters were developed in depth other than Liberté. At the end of the book she becomes supergirl - driving a truck to escape from the bad guys when she has never driven, and likely hasn't spent much time in the cab of trucks, but rather in the back as a passenger so this seemed preposterous. This is just one example of things that didn't make sense.

The author is an American who works as a lawyer in Haiti. The book reads as though written by an observer rather than an insider. One thing that didn't make sense was that there were Haitian proverbs and other kriol expressions throughout. But the book is written in English so it's odd to have the characters occasionally break into kriol.

I will add that the narrator was outstanding.

[Moe Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

*This book was won from a Goodreads Giveaway*

Once I received this book I was unsure if I would like it. it sat on my bookshelf for some time. I wanted to be fully invested reading this. As I knew I would have to do a review.

I must say this book caught me by surprise. This book is well written and very engaging. This novel follows the life of two children navigating the complexities of life in Haiti. More so in the slums of Haiti. The characters where well developed and I got to know them and feel there life. Sad at times you still feel very compelled to continue reading. You are guided through every event with ease.

The background knowledge and the vivid details make this book even more amazing. The author does a great job in allowing us to know out surrounding.

This book teaches you and engages you to look into you own life. Not only to be thankful, but to understand the journey of others. I feel this book would be for for upper level students. It ask you questions and make think when you don't even realize it.

I love this book and would definitely keep it in my library. I would suggest it to anyone. Whether you are a reader or not. This book is necessary.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absorbing and distressing at the same time. Young Libète is as engaging a character as Caddy Woodlawn or Laura Ingalls, but her hardships aren't long, cold winters. She endures the death of her mother, being packed off to serve as a child servant to a harsh, self-righteous woman, living with disease, hunger, death, poverty and cruelty, an earthquake that destroys her home, more sorrow than you can imagine. But she survives and even thrives, finds friendship, sees good in even the most hardened of police officials, loves her home. Libète is not perfect - she rages against injustice, is often angry at God, has an odd morale center that has no problem with spinning some amazing lies as needed. I wanted to pick her up out of hell and bring her to a world where she could have food and a clean home...and yet, I don't think she would have wanted that either. What she wanted was a whole and healthy Haiti - and we constantly fail her. I bought the book because it said proceeds went to Haiti, and even if the book hadn't been good that is worth the money. But it was very much worth reading.

[JoAnn W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book!! It has beautiful writing, fascinating but believable characters, mystery, suspense -- all this plus an education about the life of the people of Haiti, our very poorest neighbor in the Americas.

The main characters are two children. The story stretches credulity in that they manage to survive numerous, potentially fatal dangers and attempts on their lives. But that's all part of the story and doesn't detract from the overall impact of the book.

The author lived in Haiti and has an obvious understanding of the struggles of the people where life is as hard as just about anywhere in the third world -- earthquakes, hurricanes, and epidemics not withstanding.

Proceeds from the sale of the book go to relief efforts in Haiti.

[Martha Farnsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. It gave such a strong image of life in the slum where the protagonist lives, Port au Prince, and the island she is from. The sights, smells, daily activities, Haitian Creole phrases and idioms. I haven't been yet, but I have a tiny idea of what some parts of Haiti are like now. The author did a great job of weaving in events from Haiti's history and politics, and I felt like I was learning about liberation theology along with Libete. Just loved it. Oh, and it's an engaging mystery at the same time.

[Shelley Hom · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The characters are so well written and the descriptions truly transported me to Cite Soleil. Beyond the interesting story itself, the idea of children as the protagonists attempting to get justice in such a place struck a chord in me...I adored Libete's boldness and drive!

This was a really good read, even better knowing that the money I spent is going directly to organizations in Haiti...

[RenishaRenewed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. There's so much to point out: the characters, the plot and storyline and the inspiration behind the whole novel. Very well written and I love how unbiased the author was in portraying Haiti's struggles, political scene and citizen life. I fell in love with Libète and Jak. Loved this book. Great read.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

In structure, this book is almost like two novellas set back to back, featuring many of the same characters. In Part 1, two 11-year-old kids find the bodies of a murdered young mother and her baby, and when the police are indifferent, undertake to find the murderer themselves. Shenanigans ensue. Part 1 ends abruptly when a well-known real-life disaster occurs that saves Libète's life and ends the immediate search for Claire's murderer. In Part 2, in the wake of the disaster, Libète and Jak find their circumstances reversed, and a new mystery pricks Libète's conscience, as young women are vanishing from Cité Soleil. But in the end, the story of the murdered mother and child and the missing women will come full circle to an explosive conclusion.

I struggled with this book. On the one hand, I liked Libète and Jak almost immediately, and only liked them more as the story went on. Libète is a little 11-year-old firecracker who has no problem sassing her elders when she thinks it's important, and even pulled a knife on her abusive aunt! And sweet little Jak... I just want to hug him and feed him a giant meal. He's Libète's voice of reason and the resident brainiac, and my heart breaks to think of incredible kids like him withering in such abject poverty their growth is literally stunted from starvation. What could he be with adequate nutrition? Libète may not be a budding scholar, but her passion for finding the truth and seeing justice done is undeniable, and she goads Jak to do the right thing even when it's difficult and dangerous.

There's a desire to think, “These 11-year-old kids aren't believable as hard-bitten amateur detectives investigating a murder, interviewing witnesses, and securing evidence by any means necessary.” Certainly nothing in a white American middle-class childhood would equip an 11-year-old kid for this. But these kids haven't had that type of childhood, not at all. And honestly, Libète's simplistic approach to it all as her suspicions careen from suspect to suspect is pretty authentically 11. I was sorry to see Jak almost disappear from the story for most of Part 2, but he does eventually make a comeback.

I found two very different types of things really difficult about this story. The first is simply the discomfort of facing the wretched poverty and violence of life in Cité Soleil. The deaths and even outright murders these kids have witnessed before age 12 is heartbreaking. I wanted to look away, I really did, and vread a comfortable book where scones are eaten in well-lit libraries or something, and I don't have to think about injustice and poverty and misery on such a direct and personal level. (Of course, I'm aware that's the point of the story – to make white American readers look this in the face with protagonists they can become personally invested in.) And that was just in the first half, before things fell apart even more.

The second is Oswald's method of building the story. He alternates real time and flashbacks, and they seem to gradually converge as the story goes on, which is fine in theory. But it has to be skillfully done to avoid confusion, and that didn't happen here. Past tense and present tense meander all over the place and make it really difficult to figure out whether any given paragraph is real time or flashback - particularly as they are getting closer and closer together. There are some references to “little Libète” which tell you this is a flashback, but they're not consistently used. And in the second half, none of the flashbacks go back more than a few months or even less. So I constantly struggled with assembling the timeline in my mind. I spent quite a while in the second half with everything in the wrong order in my mind.

But I did find myself wanting to know what's going to happen. Who really killed Claire? Will Lolo be vindicated? Who is abducting the young women, and can they be saved? Will Libète have a bright future in crime investigation? According to Ted Oswald, the answer must be yes, since he's written several more stories featuring her.

Audio Notes: Narrator Bahni Turpin is reliably excellent and brings the accents and inflections of the Caribbean to vivid life.

[Larry Bassett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me begin with my biggest criticism of the book. The two protagonists in the book are preteens and what they undertake and do in the book I find totally unbelievable for children of that age. The girl who is the main character is about seven years old at the beginning of the book and maybe 13 at the end. Let me quickly acknowledge that it is very likely that children in impoverished countries may come of age much more quickly then in societies where children are protected and closely supervised. But the maturity and actions of these two children far exceeded my ability to suspend disbelief.

I chose to read this book because I have been somewhat closely involved with the lives of two 20 something-year-old Haitians in recent months. The author of the book has spent a good deal of time in Haiti and seems to have reflected a good deal of understanding about life there for the many who live in poverty. Statistics indicate that 50% of the population there is impoverished.

The book includes recent historic events of the earthquake, the hurricane and the cholera epidemic. The portrayal of life is sensitive and distressing. There is also some effort to deal with how people in an overwhelmingly distressed land reconcile a belief in God amidst such suffering. I actually think a somewhat balanced view on the topic is presented when even significantly religious people admit they question how a loving God could allow such conditions. While the doubts do not win over their existence is given significant play.

The murder mystery as well as the mystery of parentage has its place throughout the book but I felt it did not overwhelm The story of Haiti that the book told very well. Young kids as sleuths as I have said did pretty continuously have me shaking my head but the oppression of poverty seemed very real. There were quite a few powerful secondary characters in the book who showed some of the real struggles in a country such as Haiti.

[Naeemah Huggins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It held me for about 80% of the book, then it just outpaced me and tossed me flat on my behind. I love the kids. Favorite character? Jacques. Liberte was just too damn nosey for me. I'm from the Caribbean and she would not have survived as long as she did. Ou too fache!

The book seemed too long for the story that it had to tell though. The pacing was weird and if you're not listening (audible) you will miss when they skip back and forth in the timeline. The timelines seemed to close together to be clear about 'when' he was referring to all the time. I just went along to get along.

I enjoyed it. It took me away for 16hrs. As a side note, we take the American democratic and justice system for granted sometimes. Putting Haiti's bureaucratic system up against the great USA's made me glad to be here instead of there but that's another debate for another time.

[Kelsey Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is going to sound a bit odd, but I think I would have liked this book better if wasn't a mystery and was a contemporary fiction novel instead. This is an especially crazy statement coming from me because I generally don't like contemporary fiction and love mysteries. My favorites parts of this book was Liberte's backstory and watching her go through her rough childhood and surviving the hurricane. Liberte is a feisty, resourceful protagonist and watching her journey through life showcases many of the social issues that Haiti is facing including poverty, AIDS, corruption, and violence. The background is detailed and brutal and I was very invested in Liberte and Jak as characters. Oddly enough, I did not really care THAT much about the actual mystery. It didn't hook me nearly as much as Liberte's own personal story. There are also jumps in perspective that make the story hard to follow. As much as I like Liberte as a character, there were a few moments where I though she was a little too wise for her years and found it hard to believe. This book was very fascinating and opened my eyes to a lot of the issues that Haiti faces, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to track down the sequel.

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. Miss. Libète. &. Jak!
- A lot!

The narration by Bahni Turpin was wondrous; it helped transport me to Haiti, to Cité Soleil and Île de la Gonâve. Libète being a sort of 'more realistic' version of Pippi Longstocking, without super-powers other then her extraordinary will-power and glib mouth. Jak is her very intelligent and kind-hearted equally young friend. Both are destitute but resourceful. The backdrop is dramatic.

I feel pangs of loss having finished the book and want to climb a wall in Cité Soleil, sitt beside them, listening to them talk, catching up. Apparently there is a follow-up to this book, but I think I'll wait and pick it up when it is hopefully (?) narrated by Turpin also. This is in the "top two" books I've listened to this year. It is beautiful and engaging.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well-written and beautifully read by a master narrator. The characters are well-developed and the various voices in the Audible version are just amazing! I listen to a lot of audio books while I’m driving and the narrator makes a huge difference. Bahni Turpin may be the best ever. The story was interesting, even captivating, but stretched my personal reality limits, especially in the closing chapters. I don’t claim to be any kind of expert on Haiti, but I have spent some time there on a few occasions. The author skillfully portrays the wonders and heart-wrenching challenges in this troubled nation of incredible people. I highly recommend immersing yourself in Haiti by listening to this exceptional audio book.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some really strong moments with a focus on Haitian culture and the problems in the country and the ways the characters try so hard to survive with positive attitudes in conditions that are no fault of most of the citizens.

The book has an interestingly precocious child as a main character. This is both a strength and a weakness. Sometimes Libéte’s behavior rings true for a child (her earnest belief that what adults say is what they mean), & other times she’s behaving and speaking like an 18-year-old instead of an 11-year-old (her vocabulary and form of reasoning is way more sophisticated than that of a mostly-illiterate child).

Random shifts without any cue can be confusing, as well.

[Laura Gaisie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars for me...I love that this story takes us into the beauty of Haiti but also the struggle. Oftentimes people overlook the fact that Haiti truly is a beautiful country. I would say I lost interest in the last 4 or so chapters as the mysteries began to unfold and pile up one after another. Overall I enjoyed Liberte's journey and her search for truth.

Laura Gaisie, author of Twelve Mondays

[Jason Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Haiti's Cité Soleil, Because We Are thoroughly immerses readers in the sights, sounds, smells and fears of that area. I really loved this book and after reading it, I wanted to read everything be Ted Oswald.

[Jessica Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely incredible setting and character development. Overwhelmed at how the story ties together in the end. Thank you, Ted Oswald!!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the politics and culture of Haiti while enjoying familiar plot of a murder mystery.

[Brenda Siara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Couldn't finish.

[José Armando Leyva Martínez · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made it through!! La segunda mejor novela que he leído!! 😀🖒