There Is A Land by Ted Oswald

This is Ted Oswald's second novel about Libete Limye. Libete is now three years older and an outspoken activist at the age of 13. Even though this novel is considered a mystery, like the first book Because We Are, this novel really concentrates on the political upheaval in Haiti. Unless you already know something about the different Haitian presidents and warring factions with their dynamic leaders, it's difficult to keep everyone straight. It's also difficult to categorize people as being "good" and "bad". Like Libete, I never knew who to trust! Libete had a challenging time figuring out who actually supported her and who was trying to kill her. Sometimes the people who initially supported her, turned around and betrayed her; other times she was saved by people who she was taught, through experience, not to trust.

Libete was on the run for most of this book. She took on another name and another identity. Time-wise, the story of why she ran intermingled with the stories of how she ran and where she ended up. It weaves in and out so the reader slowly pieces the whole story together throughout the duration of the novel. Since she is in hiding, she is separated from the people she loves the most. She bonds with other people in her new life, but in the end, two of the people who loved her most, die. I hate that. In Libete's (Sophia's) new life she also runs into trouble. She uncovers the fact that the "University people" who supplied the tools needed to plant and manage a common garden for food in the town she flees to, are actually miners mining for gold.

On top of all that, we find out that Libete is ill with tuberculosis. The author doesn't explain how or when she found out she was ill, or how she received some medication, which she takes until she runs out. I don't even know if Stephanie and/or Jak know that she is ill. We also don't know what happened to Stephanie and Jak. So, lots of unanswered questions at the end of this book!

Too many good people died in this book. Every time Libete starts to feel like she has a "family", people are taken from her. It's very sad. The message of the book is worth fighting for though. Libete represents "Hope". Dimanche and Magdala, and their father before them, believed "the end of hope is the end of us all." They see Libete as Haiti's hope, and they are willing to die for that.

So, anxiously waiting for the next book....

Wendy's Rating: ****