Dream Country

by Shannon Gibney

The heartbreaking story of five generations of young people from a single African-and-American family pursuing an elusive dream of freedom. "Gut wrenching and incredible.”— Sabaa Tahir #1 New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes"This novel is a remarkable achievement."—Kelly Barnhill, New York Times bestselling author and Newbery medalist"Beautifully epic."—Ibi Zoboi, author American Street and National Book Award finalistDream Country begins in suburban Minneapolis at the moment when seventeen-year-old Kollie Flomo begins to crack under the strain of his life as a Liberian refugee. He's exhausted by being at once too black and not black enough for his African American peers and worn down by the expectations of his own Liberian family and community. When his frustration finally spills into violence and his parents send him back to Monrovia to reform school, the story shifts. Like Kollie, readers travel back to Liberia, but also back in time, to the early twentieth century and the point of view of Togar Somah, an eighteen-year-old indigenous Liberian on the run from government militias that would force him to work the plantations of the Congo people, descendants of the African American slaves who colonized Liberia almost a century earlier. When Togar's section draws to a shocking close, the novel jumps again, back to America in 1827, to the children of Yasmine Wright, who leave a Virginia plantation with their mother for Liberia, where they're promised freedom and a chance at self-determination by the American Colonization Society. The Wrights begin their section by fleeing the whip and by its close, they are then the ones who wield it. With each new section, the novel uncovers fresh hope and resonating heartbreak, all based on historical fact. In Dream Country, Shannon Gibney spins a riveting tale of the nightmarish spiral of death and exile connecting America and Africa, and of how one determined young dreamer tries to break free and gain control of her destiny.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical, Africa, Liberia, African American

367 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

Shannon Gibney was born in 1975, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She was adopted by Jim and Sue Gibney about five months later, and grew up with her two (biological) brothers, Jon and Ben.

Shannon has loved to read and to write as far back as she can remember. When she was in second grade, she started making “books” about her family’s camping trips, and later graduated to a series on three sibling detectives in fourth grade.When she was 15, her father gave her James Baldwin’s Tell Me How Long the Train’s Been Gone, a book that changed her life and made her see the possibilities of the written word. The novel took a long, difficult look at relations between Blacks and Whites, the poor and the rich, gay and straight people, and fused searing honesty with metaphorical beauty. After this experience, Shannon knew that she needed to read everything Baldwin had ever written, and also that she wanted to emulate his strategy of telling the most dangerous, and therefore liberating kind of truth, through writing.

High school was a time for tremendous growth for Shannon, as she had the opportunity to attend Community High, a place that nurtured independence and creativity. At Carnegie Mellon University, Shannon majored in Creative Writing and Spanish, graduating with highest honors in 1997. She was awarded their Alumni Study/Travel Award, and used it to travel to Ghana to collect information for a short story collection on relationships between African Americans and continental Africans.

At Indiana University’s Graduate Creative Writing Program, Shannon honed her understanding of the basic elements of story-writing. She was in Bloomington from 1999 to 2002, and earned an M.A. in 20th Century African American Literature, as well as her M.F.A. while she was there. As Indiana Review editor, she conceived of the literary journal’s first “Writers of Color” special issue, and brought it to fruition, also in 2002.

Shannon has called Minneapolis home since 2002. She moved there right after completing her graduate work at Indiana, and took a job at the Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder, the state’s oldest Black newspaper. A three-year stint as managing editor of this 75-year-old publication introduced Shannon to the vibrant, growing, and diverse Black community in the Twin Cities, and also gave her vital insight into the inner-workings of a weekly newspaper. When she left in 2005, Shannon had written well over 100 news and features stories for the paper.

The Bush Artist Fellows Program took Shannon’s daily life in a new direction. In 2005, she was awarded a grant, which allowed her to quit her job at the Spokesman, and devote most of her time to her creative work.

After completing her Bush fellowhip in summer 2007, Shannon joined the faculty in English at Minneapolis Community and Technical College (MCTC) in the fall, and became Full-Time Unlimited (FTU) faculty there in 2009. She lives with her son Boisey, and daughter Marwein, in the Powderhorn neighborhood of South Minneapolis.

Shannon’s Young Adult (YA) novel SEE NO COLOR was published by Carolrhoda Lab, a division of Lerner Publications, in November, 2015, and subsequently won a 2016 Minnesota Book Award in the category of Literature for Young Adults. She was also awarded a $25,000 2015 McKnight Artist Fellowship for Writers, administered by the Loft Literary Center. She used the funds to support work on a family memoir, tentatively titled Love Across the Middle Passage: Making an African/African American Family.

Other publications this year include a short story in the Sky Blue Water anthology of children’s literature from Minnesota writers, the opening essay in the critically-acclaimed and popular A Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota anthology, edited by Sun Yung Shin. The Star Tribune published an excerpt of Shannon’s essay “Fear of a Black Mother,” which you can read here.

In 2017, look for Shannon’s short story “Salvation,” in Eric Smith’s new anthology of adoption-

Reviews

[Tori (InToriLex) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Content Warning: Rape, Substance Abuse, Graphic Violence, Sexually Explicit Language

This is a unflinching look at the many ways Liberia is tied to African American history. I only knew little about Liberian history and the African American colony there started by slaves, before reading this book. This book follows a family throughout time and across continents who have survived American slavery, Liberian Civil War and immigrating to America to start over. The changing point of views stood out as distinct and interesting voices.The whole story is non linear and lacks clear paths or conclusions. It uses intimate details and relationships to give you an abstract way of looking at history through fictionalized events.

 "This is what the demons tech us to survive to become two people at once. To hide ourselves in plain sight . What kind of sick learning is
this?"

Kollie is a recent Liberian immigrant struggling to fit in with African Americans in high school, unable to connect with peers who bully and make fun of his culture. Togar is a indigenous Liberian who is forced to leave his home and family after his village is raided by Congo people who steal indigenous men and force them into labor. Yasmine is a young mother who sets out with her four children to Liberia to escape the horrors of slavery and build a new country with a better future for her children. Ujay is a Liberian University student trying to support revolution in a divided country.  The horrors and heartbreak throughout their stories was shocking but something I felt was the only way to convey the true tragedy of Liberian history.

"If words were the only tools at your disposal to make sense of a lineage in two countries that never seemed to align or intersect in ways that made you feel like anything but a perpetual foreigner in either place , you too would have spent the last three years in a small room behind a computer screen, desperately punching out a invented history."

The story and characters are great but segments of the book were a bit too drawn out and slow paced. There is a segment at the back of the book listing major events in Liberian history. I suggest reading that first  to make sense of some of the glossed over details about Liberia throughout the book.  I emotionally connected with and learned a lot from these characters. This story will make you reflect on family race and identity in memorable and important ways.

Recommended for Readers who
- enjoy family sagas spanning continents and generations
- want to learn more about Liberian History and the African American colony built by ex-slaves
- can digest serious topics and tragedy told in a straight forward way

**I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

[Faith Simon]

DNF @ 23%

I really wanted to like this book, because it’s an important book, it revolves around fictionalized stories that existed and deserve to be told. I feel terrible for not being able to finish it, for not sticking through the stories to experience the book as a whole, as a Book as important as this deserves. But I just couldn’t sit through reading this.
Part of the reason was the language in which the characters speak, I couldn’t really follow it very well, most of the time I had to take a moment to figure out what was being said. This stems from my very white-centric knowledge of language, and it’s unfortunate I found it hard to enjoy this book because of it. Another reason was that, nothing was happening. I was just bored, and I actually skipped ahead to a different POV because I was so bored, only to find that I couldn’t quite sit through that one either.
In conclusion, I just couldn’t finish this book at this point in my life, I hope to find a better appreciation for it later in my life, because I feel awful about not giving it the full read and appreciation it obviously deserves.

[Jena · Rating 5 out of 5]

“You all think you hate one another precisely because we don’t about this stuff.” She sighed. “You done realize it yet, but that is the real tragedy. Not a name somebody got called.”

Dream Country is a beautiful journey of one family, woven throughout a tapestry of generations, struggling with what freedom means to each of them. Told through five perspectives spanning from the early 1800’s to the present, we see the common threads of dreams, identity, and hope in each of their stories. This is a journey of a family, but it is also a journey through history, both real and imagined. It is a story of culture and how it evolves through generations. It is a story of countries, and how these larger struggles impact individuals living within them.

Each section is important to the rest, showing that we are never fully immune to the conflicts of the past. They scar us in ways that are sometimes both visible and invisible. Each generation building on the lessons and nightmares of the one before it. Dream Country is an examination of how our past can haunt our present, and how one dreamer is determined to understand these threads in order to seize control of her present and her future.

“Time passes, oceans are crossed; circumstances change, or they do not. One continent is exchanged for another, but still the spiral does not become a circle. No, spirals rise and they fall. Sometimes it’s hard to know which.”

Dream Country is not just a story of a family’s history. Or of a culture, or a country. It is a vivid portrayal of what racism looks like, feels like, but more profoundly, how it stems. How it can grow from one group to another, hate breeding hate, in new ways, with new generations wreaking pain and heartache on the next. This is a heartbreaking but real story. One which helps understand not only the pain of our past, but the difficulties in our present.

This incredible journey forces the reader to examine some of the lesser known truths of history. Dream Country is a “fictional canvas of fact”, where historical fact is woven into the story. Knowing that there is legitimate history written into these characters and their struggles makes the atrocities we encounter impossible to ignore. This isn’t a fictionalized story where once you close the cover, the story leaves the reader. Instead, this will awaken the need to know more, to think more, to understand more.

“The truth is fluid and fungible and untrustworthy and won’t abide by any one telling. And sometimes, in inventing the truth, we can discover something deeper. We can find our place in the story.”

Dream Country is a beautifully written story, that is compelling and stunning. It is deep and profound, and will open a dialogue for young readers everywhere. This book is perfect to help teens who perhaps have faced their own struggles with identity, and fitting in. With wanting to understand their own generational histories and where these lives of the past fit in with their future.

This book is perfect for book clubs, classrooms, and everything in between. There is some language, along with difficult subject matter such as colonization, slavery, violence, and references to rape, though outside of language, there aren’t any graphic descriptions. I would recommend to mature young adult readers, or at least with a parent or teacher available to help guide the reader through deeper discovery of these difficult themes and subjects.

In short, this book is stunning. It is a shining example of why we need diverse books with diverse characters, along with more own voices authors. This is a complex story bringing to light pieces of our own history that are lesser known. It is valuable, informative, and incredibly, incredibly important. Highly, highly, recommend!

Thank you to Penguin Young Readers for including me on this incredible tour, and for sending me a copy for review!

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for a different perspective of the African experience in America, it does explore a little know side of history (the colonization of Liberia by Freed African American who left the USA in search of their ancestral home), and how they ended up behaving in a way that reflected the reality that they suffered at the hand of the white plantations owners towards the native population of Liberia. Very interesting topic for anyone interested in a more complex story of the African American experience and the African experience in America (main character is Liberian).

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. During the first few chapters of this book, I did not think I would like it at all. I totally believe that racism still exists in our schools, but the stories of the modern day Minneapolis school seemed a bit unrealistic to me. The thing that really tripped me up was the use of Brooklyn Center High School. Why not use a fictional school, since the events and characters in this book are fictional?

BUT, once Kollie’s story was done, I really started to enjoy the book. I learned so much about Liberia, considering I knew next to nothing before. The stories about the African slaves who went to Liberia to colonize were so fascinating, especially to see how former slaves became the slavers. Super sad.

I did find myself getting confused in parts (for example, the American Africans are referred to as white by the native Africans, but this wasn’t explained till much later in the book, so the whole time I was so confused as to why all the people from Congo were white haha.) I also had a hard time following the civil war/revolution.

However, the writing was good, and I really appreciate any story that brings to light what refugees are facing today, as well as their past sufferings. I admire the author’s commitment in researching this story and uncovering history that had previously remain hidden or cloudy. We need more diverse stories like this!

I wanted to recommend this to my husband for his ESL students, but the repeated use of the C word and F word probably disqualify it. :(

[Kelly]

This is an incredible story of a family impacted by the African diaspora. The book is told in a non-linear fashion, as seen through the eyes of one of the contemporary members of the family. We begin in today's Minneapolis area with a boy named Kollie, whose parents send him back to the land from where he was a refugee -- Liberia. From there, we travel back to family that grew up in Liberia, then back even further to family which had been indentured servants in the US prior to the Civil War; their freedom came when they left the US and headed back to Liberia. We move, then, to the parents of Kollie and what they endured in Liberia.

What's remarkable about this book, aside from the heartache and hope seen through the characters, is the history that we never learn about. Gibney's extraordinary research (& powerful author's note) explain how when black freed people went back to Liberia, they brought with them the same tools used against them to harm, enslave, and colonize the native Liberians. This book shows that through this family.

I couldn't stop thinking about pairing this book with Homegoing. Like with Gyasi's book, some characters will resonate more than others for readers; I found Kollie and Angel's stories (especially her's, despite being the smallest part -- done purposefully) to be the most compelling. Note that some of the characters are a bit beyond their teen years, and in many ways, this book read to me as less YA and more adult. That doesn't mean YA readers won't love it, but rather, it'd be an awesome and easy sell to adult readers, too.

Powerful, moving, vital, and one that is going to mean a LOT to a lot of readers.

[LeAnn Suchy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book will be our One Read in the fall and there is so much to discuss. Racism, slavery, white supremacy, the immigrant experience, families, generational repercussions, and on and on.

And I am also excited our students will learn more about the history of Liberia. I feel so stupid that I knew nothing about how ex-slaves from America horribly treated indigenous populations in Liberia and transformed that country. Are we all doomed to exert power and damage over those we deem less than, even if it’s happened to us? It’s what we know, and we’re all continually doing it.

I’m still thinking about these things and I’m not articulating it all that well, but, again, so much to think about and discuss with this book. A great choice for a One Read.

[Scottsdale Public Library]

One family, five generations, and multiple journeys as they all search for their definition of freedom. This powerful read is eye-opening, relatable, full of depth, and quite sad. It's not a cheerful read, but it is an excellent one. Dream Country, a YA (young adult) historical fiction, is worth a checkout for teens and adults alike. –Megan G.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shannon Gibney’s second novel is flat out amazing. It is raw and revealing and captivated me on every level.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Then he came back out on the porch and sat there for hours, watching the sun rise. Wondering if his own history was just a dream-loop folding back on itself over and over again, in endless variation and repetition, always in search of a place to rest.” - Dream Country (page 321).



Dream Country tells the story, in alternating voices, of five generations of a black family stretching from pre-Civil War era America to 20th century Liberia, and back to present day America. It begins with Kollie Flomo, a Liberian born immigrant now living in Minnesota with his family. He is at once too black for the white people in his neighborhood and not black enough for his African-American peers. Finding no place of belonging, he fosters a lot of anger until one day he can’t hold that anger in any more, and his parents make the decision to send him back to Liberia to live with relatives. The story then jumps to Togar Somah, on the run in the Liberian bush from a government who wants to enslave him to back-breaking work on state-run plantations, then to early 1800s Virginia and Yasmine Wright and her children, who will be one of the descendents of African American slaves to colonize Liberia with the help of the American Colonization Society. The story then moves to Kollie’s father, trying to escape the Liberian Civil War in the 1980s.

This amazing and epic journey unpacks several heavy themes such as racism, white supremacy, power dynamics between the oppressed and the oppressors, and the trauma of enslavement and colonialism on indigenous people and their descendants. I’m going to at TW for: police violence on black people, incidents of gross racism (everything from use of the n-word to lynching), and sexual assualt and rape.

This is a book that’s going to stay with me for a while. It was extremely engrossing, and as heartbreaking as parts of it were, I couldn’t put it down; in fact, I stayed up till nearly 1am to finish it. If you’re looking for a book that’ll give you all the warm fuzzies, look elsewhere my friend. This is a hard read, and it’s going to leave you with some uncomfortable feels. You should read it anyway.

[Kelsey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably my favorite fiction read of the summer. So well written—you don’t notice it’s a YA book at all. It goes back and forth through time tell the story of Liberians in both the US and Monrovia, and the conflicts between Africans and African Americans—the traumas show up over hundreds of years with the same patterns, just in different ways. I didn’t know any of this history before—this book makes me want to read and learn more about it. Each part and time period of the book was equally interesting to me. I love that this POV has been written so well and look forward to seeking out more of it. Shout out to Shannon Gibney—a Minnesota writer!

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 3.5 read for me

Thoughts coming shortly

[Rich in Color is now on StoryGraph]

Review copy: ARC via publisher

(Content warnings for graphic violence, rape, police violence, racial slurs, and homophobic slurs.)

Shannon Gibney’s Dream Country is a heartbreaking look into the history of a family across two continents and almost two centuries. The sections of the novel are out of chronological order, but this back and forth between time and place effectively builds a sense of connectivity between the generations. This is most notable in how Gibney portrays violence rippling across the years, pitting people and their communities against one another. This us-versus-them mentality was a constant presence throughout the book and was especially prevalent in Kollie’s section, where he not only had to deal with racism from white members of the community but also anti-immigrant/refugee sentiment.

I was particularly drawn to Yasmine Wright’s section of Dream Country. Yasmine’s yearning for freedom took her and her children across the ocean, where they carved out new lives at their own and others’ expense. It was tragic seeing how the “heathen” rhetoric that was used to justify racism/continuation of slavery in the U.S. became a tool for Yasmine and the other colonists against the indigenous groups in Liberia. I appreciated that Gibney took the time to look at how violence and colonization changed (or didn’t change) the members of Yasmine’s family.

One thing I admire most about Gibney’s writing is how distinct the voices were for all her narrators, especially given how little space some of them got compared to others. The narrators were key in bringing each setting to life, and I cared deeply about several of them. I wished we had more of Angel’s section, though her ending narration and explanation for the stories of her family history (and her present) was well done and provided a surprisingly hopeful end to the book.

As a small side note, readers may find it useful to review the brief timeline of Liberian history provided at the back of the book before starting. While Gibney provides plenty of context to be able to figure out what’s going on, I think I would have had a better appreciation for the novel had I gone in with a framework for my own reference.

Recommendation: Get it soon. Dream Country is a thoughtful, compassionate, and heartbreaking look at the history of an African-and-American family across five different generations. Shannon Gibney’s exploration of freedom and violence and family is a worthwhile, if occasionally difficult, read.

[Mary Turck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning with a Liberian immigrant family in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota in 2008, Dream Country zig zags through time and space, telling stories from Liberian colonization and civil war to African American and Liberian American present day. Each segment focuses on an individual within a family, showing not only the individual struggle but also the inextricably linked family dynamic. The individual story segments bring to life the historical settings and events, from Liberian colonization to civil war to diaspora.

Dream Country, the publisher says, is a young adult novel. Don't let that fool you: Shannon Gibney respects her audience too much to write down to them or to soften the emotional and historical facts in any way. Her audience may include young adults, but this is a novel for all adults, as intense and troubling as any novel on the various book award and best seller lists.

For me, Angel's words sum up how the five separated but interrelated family stories come together and why this book tastes like life:

"The truth is fluid and fungible and untrustworthy and won't abide by any one telling. And sometimes, in inventing truth, we can discover something deeper. We can find our place in the story, because that, at least, is one thing that we can make for ourselves. A story."

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. I knew this book would be phenomenal, and it was. There are special books out there that open up a whole new experience, a whole new way of looking at the world. Dream Country is one of those books. My privilege means I had no idea about the history and current conflicts in Liberia. I am in awe of these stories and sacrifices. It is an important, moving book. I love "family sagas", though that's a cliche description of a book like this. But the connections between people and their stories was one of my favorite parts. I feel like my thoughts are so incohesive because I've never read anything like this and don't know how to put my thoughts into words. All I know is Shannon Gibney is an amazing author and this story needs to be read.

Unfortunately, I didn't care for the audiobook as much as the story itself. Bahni Turpin narrates, and as acclaimed as she is, she has never been my favorite. This was a story that deserved multiple narrators. It would've really helped keep the stories straight. Turpin didn't distinguish the characters enough, and it was confusing at times. But other audiobook listeners might be okay with it.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here's what I knew about Liberia before reading this book: it was the country that was created to separate the newly freed American slaves; its capital is Monrovia, named for American president James Monroe, and that there were clashes with the indigenous people in the region. According to Gibney, that's more than most Americans know. But rather than launching into a rant on the holes in our American history classes, I should talk about how Gibney writes a compelling story about a family that is both American and Liberian.

Don't let the language turn you away. The characters speak in their natural dialects, much like in Crazy Rich Asians but with more profanity. Teenage boys? Enough said.

This is a book about racism. Unlike many other books on the market, white supremacy is not the only form of racism. African American vs Liberian American. Congo vs Black-black. So many twisted ways people make themselves feel superior over others.

It's also a book about emigration and leaving everything you know to start a new life in a place that does not match the hopes and dreams that fueled your journey.

It's a thought-provoking novel. Gibney spent years researching her topic and this book is well worth reading.

[Pia Bröker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about one story lived by many people.
It plays over three centuries, two continents and one ocean. And everything in between those.

Each section always only felt like an introduction to a person. A good one, but I wanted to learn more. Each character seemed so much deeper than was possible to explore during their section.

Before reading the final chapter, I thought it is just another book that has a good (political) idea but fails to deliver a good story. But when I read the end, it all made perfect sense.

A wonderful book that made me shiver a few times.
Really recommend to anyone who never really feels like they fit, have more than one or no home, or people who have all that and want to learn a bit more empathy.

Also, a great introduction to Liberia's history. A small, yet complex and significant country.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy a story told by different characters, in different times, that end up woven together. An imaginative work of historical fiction that taught me about the Colonization of Liberia and the history of that country. It was devastating to see the cycle of freed slaves becoming the ones enslaving people instead of coming together. Not surprising as we continue to see racial divides everywhere.

The character that touched me the most was Yasmine who set out on her own with her four children for the promised freedom of Liberia. Her struggles and fierce love of her kids struck my maternal center.

[Kristin Boldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great, moving, and ambitious book. Gibney weaves many generations back and forth from Liberia to the US and back again. Between the lines of the multiple complex and sympathetic characters, who I understood even when I didn't agree with them, is a history of generation and racial trauma. I ached for so many of these characters and the many injustices they endured. A compelling page turner, it also taught me a lot. I knew little about Liberia and nothing about how it it was settled by whites and free Blacks in the 1800s.

[JJ Slmani · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Dream Country" by Shannon Gibney is like a rollercoaster of feelings that stuck with me even after finishing. Gibney did a great job talking about big ideas in a way that made sense. The story does jump around, but in time it all fits together like a puzzle. While some people might find it intriguing, it felt a bit confusing at times. It disrupted the flow, and I found myself having to backtrack to grasp the timeline. Gibney talks about important stuff like who we are, where we fit in, and how history still affects us today. It's cool because it's not an easy thing to write about, but Gibney does it well, making it personal. Overall, it was a good book and got me thinking but I most likely would not read it again for my own entertainment.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our 11 grade team of teachers is looking for a possible replacement or book circle book with Kindred- a shorter piece that might not be as disjointed. This is not it! It could work with The Things They Carried and the idea of the power of story.

Regardless of whether it fits our needs, it is good. It took a while to read, and it might be worth a re-read. The message at the end was worth hanging on. There is so much I still need to learn about history.

[Kirsten Bansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great reminder of the important and interesting people who live so nearby, and whose stories I have never learned. I look forward to reading more about Liberia and hopefully meeting some Minnesotans with Liberian ties.

[Ellen D. Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, this moving book! Dream Country spans centuries and shares the story of racism, slavery, oppression and history repeating itself through different African and African American voices. The rich story begins in Minnesota and slowly shares Liberia's origin shifting from the present to the past. Kollie, Togar, Yasmine, Ujay and Evelyn, and finally Angel share their perspectives while seeking equality and a better life. This work is important, and young readers will feel the hardship and unfairness of the lives these characters lead. Teachers will need to be ready to support the questions students may have about the historical "send off" of American slaves back to the homeland, Africa. Wading through the rough and oftentimes sexual language will be challenging for the teacher and young reader, however no one will walk away from Dream Country unaffected.

[Cimone Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Shreya · Rating 4 out of 5]

So excited to be part of the Dream Country blog tour!!! Check out my post on http://thebaronessofbooks.weebly.com including my review and some Read Alikes for the characters!

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't love the writing style, but really enjoyed the dive into Liberian history and the author's depiction of the ongoing African-African American encounter.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was heart wrenching. It follows five different generations of one family as they navigate counties and face hardships and heartbreak. The writing was truly excellent and the author did an amazing job with among each point of view sound like a different voice.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Mike Mutschelknaus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter got better. I learned a lot about Liberia, which was cool.

[Margaret Butler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard book to read. I learned a lot about Liberia. I had known that there was an attempt to "return" African Americans to Africa, but I did not know that those black Americans became colonists who mistreated the indigenous people in the area. This is a sprawling book, probably originally a number of short stories, and so it doesn't hang together or tell a full story as much as I would like, but I enjoyed the characters and the learning.

[Megan Doney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply excellent