richincolor:

Title: Dream Country
Author: Shannon Gibney
Genres: Historical, Contemporary
Pages: 368
Publisher: Dutton Books for Young Readers
Review Copy: ARC received from publisher
Availability: On shelves now

Summary: The heartbreaking story of five generations
of young people from a single African-and-American family pursuing an
elusive dream of freedom.

The novel 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
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.

Review: (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.

Extras

Shannon Gibney: On Identity at 88 Cups of Tea