Antes de ser libres / Before We Were Free

by Julia Alvarez, Liliana Valenzuela (Translator)

Overview

Anita de la Torre nunca cuestionó su libertad viviendo en la República Dominicana. Pero al cumplir doce años de edad en 1960, la mayoría de sus familiares han emigrado a Estados Unidos, su tío Toni ha desaparecido sin dejar rastro y la policía secreta del gobierno aterroriza a su familia restante dada su presunta oposición a la dictadura de Trujillo.
 
Utilizando la fuerza y el valor de su familia, Anita debe vencer sus miedos y volar hacia la libertad, dejando atrás todo lo que alguna vez había conocido.
 
De la renombrada autora Julia Alvarez llega una historia inolvidable sobre la adolescencia, la perseverancia y la lucha de una niña por su libertad.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525579779
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	03/27/2018
Edition description:	Spanish-language Edition
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	16,532
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Language:	Spanish
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

About the Author

Julia Alvarez es la autora galardonada de De cómo las muchachas García perdieron el acento y En el tiempo de las mariposas. Sus muy elogiados libros para lectores jóvenes incluyen Las huellas secretas, Un regalo de gracias, la serie de la tía Lola, En busca de milagros y Devolver al remitente. Alvarez ha recibido varios premios por sus obras, incluyendo el Pura Belpré Award y el Américas Award por sus libros infantiles, el Hispanic Heritage Award en Literatura y el F. Scott Fitzgerald Award por su Logro Destacado en la Literatura Americana. En 2013 fue premiada con la Medalla Nacional de las Artes de Estados Unidos por el presidente Obama. Es una escritora residente en Middlebury College y, junto con su esposo Bill Eichner, estableció Alta Gracia, un centro literario y finca sostenible de café en la República Dominicana.

Hometown:

Middlebury, Vermont

Date of Birth:

March 27, 1950

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

B.A., Middlebury College, 1971; M.F.A., Syracuse University, 1975

Reading Group Guide

1. Throughout the book, Anita watches her mother to judge the situation in the compound. Her mother often changes her approach to Anita–sometimes treating her as an adult, sometimes as a child. Why do you feel Anita’s mother does that? How does Anita react, and how do you think she would like to be treated? Do you feel she is old enough to be hearing the truth, or should her mother shelter her more?

2. In the beginning of the book, Anita’s extended family suddenly flees the country, leaving only Anita and her immediate family behind. The family lives in a compound and is extremely close. What role does the family, immediate and extended, play in this book? Does Anita realize that not everyone has the relationship her family experiences?

3. Anita is at a stage of her life where questioning authority becomes a common occurrence. In this book, there are several different authority figures that are forcing her to behave in certain ways, such as the government, the opposition army, and her family. How does she deal with this authority? How does she get around some of the rules?

4. Anita and her sister have a typical relationship that most readers can understand. Does this attitude toward each other represent a determination to keep a certain level of normalcy in a very frightening and often dangerous situation? How do both of their attitudes change once the quinceañera occurs?

5. Discuss the importance of the compound in this book, specifically the loss of the family’s freedom to go outside the gates, as well as the areas inside the compound that were off limits.

6. In order to shield the rest of the family, Anita’s father andthe group running the opposition speak outside of the house, not realizing that Anita’s window is right next to their meeting place. How did hearing these conversations affect Anita? Do you feel she was better off knowing the truth, or did the whole situation make her grow up faster than necessary?

7. After the compound becomes unsafe for Anita and her family, Anita and her mother secretly move to a safe house location and live in a closet. Compare this experience to historical events that caused people to go into hiding, to be detained because of their beliefs or nationalities, and to be threatened with death. Is there any particular person that she reminds you of?

8. Anita befriends an American boy, Sam. At her tender age of 12, she is divided between her child-like view of the world and her adult emotions. How does her ever-changing view of life affect her relationship with Sam and with her friend Oscar, who is from her country?

9. What role does American culture play in this novel? Specifically, discuss the quinceañera and the Sweet Sixteen rites of passage and the idea that Anita and her family recognize American holidays, such as Thanksgiving.

10. At the end of the novel, Anita has lost some of her family to the violence in her native country. How does she feel about the sacrifice that her family had to make? Does she truly understand the impact that her family made on her country’s history?

Editorial Reviews

Alvarez proves as gifted at writing for adolescents as she is for adults. A stirring work of art.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred

From the Publisher

Part The Diary of Anne Frank and part first-person novel, this book tells the story of Anita's life in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo dictatorship. The 12-year old writes not only of mysterious phone calls, secret police stakeouts, and the sudden evacuation of her cousins, but also of boys, growing up, and the desire to be normal and well liked. The compelling story takes Anita and her mother from their family compound into hiding in a closet, and finally to New York. Throughout these moves, we listen to Anita lose her voice as she learns the importance of staying quiet to survive. She wilts under the terror of Trujillo's dictatorship and only finds herself in documenting the events of her life in hiding. In this book, we witness the power of storytelling to sustain the will, as well as the ghastly realities of an oppressed country. Alvarez develops the complex changes in Anita's identity as a girl, Dominican, and writer effortlessly through Anita's candid voice. Valenzuela deserves congratulations for her preservation of Anita's accessible language in her translation; the story loses none of its momentum and intimacy. This 2002 Pura Belpré winner is an excellent novel for teaching the horror of dictatorship as well as the importance of freedom of speech. 2004 (orig. 2002), Dell Laurel-Leaf, Ages 10 to 15.
—Veronica E. Betancourt

Children's Literature