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emzapk's review against another edition
3.0
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.
saciashy's review against another edition
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
covbear's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
emilyjoy828's review against another edition
3.0
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. :(
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. :(
msvikki's review against another edition
4.0
I struggled to piece together the connections, and as I read, I found that frustrating. Then in the last chapter as the final narrator shared her story, I realized that was the point. She explains, “I decided to make whole in story what, in point of fact, will always be broken…”
“What are facts if not the soil from which our dreams grow?” ❤️
“What are facts if not the soil from which our dreams grow?” ❤️
quercus707's review against another edition
3.0
This is a great book to read if you want to learn about the history of Liberia, of the African Americans who went there as colonists in the 1800s, and of conflict between African Americans and African immigrants in contemporary society. It works as a novel-to-read-to-learn, a historical fiction for a contemporary history reading list. It doesn't really work as literature the way a book like Homegoing does, though. It's very caught up in communicating its historical message, less so in telling a story about people in a place and time. More journalistic than novelistic, I guess. I'm glad I read it, I learned a lot, but it didn't work for me as art, it didn't soar.
notesonbookmarks's review against another edition
3.0
I wanted this to be more cohesive, but I did enjoy the authors note at the end.
mhoffrob's review against another edition
4.0
"Dream Country" starts with the story of Kollie, an high school student in Minneapolis, whose family immigrated to the US from Liberia when he was 8 years old. We learn of the tension between native African-Americans and the newer Liberian emigrees, which culminates in a fight involving Kollie. His distraught parents decide to return him to Liberia. The story then time leaps backwards, telling of Kollie's ancestors in the early 1900s, and again those who were settlers of Liberia after fleeing indentured servitude (and slavery) in America. While the characters are clearly related, their links are tenuous. As the final vignette unfolded, I was a bit disappointed that they would not be clearly braided together. But in the end, the final chapter unfolds in the only way it can when discussing a history which is so unknown, and unrecorded. A quick and interestng read. Highly recommend.
kelseywaters's review against another edition
5.0
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!