In Darkness: On the Other Side of Darkness is Light

by Nick Lake

Overview

A stunning tour-de-force set in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. "Shorty" is a Haitian boy trapped in the ruins of a hospital when the earth explodes around him. Surrounded by lifeless bodies and growing desperately weak from lack of food and water, death seems imminent. Yet as Shorty waits in darkness for a rescue that may never come, he becomes aware of another presence, one reaching out to him across two hundred years of history. It is the presence of slave and revolutionary leader Toussaint L'Ouverture, whose life was marred by violence, and whose own end came in darkness. What unites a child of the slums with the man who would shake a troubled country out of slavery? Is it the darkness they share . . . or is it hope?

Winner of the 2013 Michael L. Printz Award, In Darkness is a story not to be missed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781619631229
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	01/28/2014
Series:	Holt McDougal Library Series
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	789,799
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	800L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Nick Lake is the much-acclaimed author of In Darkness, winner of the Michael L. Printz Award, and Hostage Three, which received three starred reviews and was named a Publishers Weekly, School Library Journal, and Boston Globe Best Book of the Year. Nick became fascinated by Haitian culture while pursuing his master's degree in linguistics. He is also the Publishing Director for fiction at HarperCollins Children's Books UK, and lives near Oxford, England. Visit him online at www.in-darkness.org and on Twitter at @nicklakeauthor.

Editorial Reviews

Shorty, 15, is trapped in the rubble of a hospital following the 2010 earthquake that left Haiti in ruins. As time wears on without rescue, he relives the journey that brought him to the hospital with a bullet wound, recounting his life running drugs and gunning down enemies for one of Site Solèy’s most notorious gangs. In a startling but successful feat of literary imagination, Lake (the Blood Ninja series) pairs Shorty’s story with that of Toussaint l’Ouverture, the 18th-century slave who led the revolt that forced out the island’s French colonizers. The narrative is as disturbing (people are hacked to death, an encephalitic baby is found alive in a trash pile) as it is challenging; the book moves back and forth in time from Shorty’s fictional first-person account, shot through with street slang and Creole, to Toussaint’s story, told in third-person. But the portrait it reveals of a country relegated throughout history to brutality and neglect is powerful and moving, as readers come to understand that Shorty is held captive by more than just the ceiling that fell on him. Ages 14–up. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

A vivid and unforgettable voice ... incredibly moving.” —The Times

“Unputdownable” —Daily Mail

“Gripping ... beautifully subtle.” —New York Times

“Both violent and subtle, unexpectedly reminding me of The Wire. Characters, settings, and the half-believed Haitian vodou religion are handled with patience and complexity ... A serious, nuanced, challenging novel. Trust me, there are plenty of young readers who hunger for exactly that.”  —Patrick Ness, Guardian

“Remarkable ... Lake's elegant, restrained prose and distinct characters will reward adults and older teenagers able to brave a story with strong language, harrowing scenes of brutality and an almost painful stab of joy at the end.” —Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 7 Up—Nick Lake's harrowing story (Bloomsbury, 2012) about Shorty, a young Haitian earthquake victim, is brought to life through Benjamin Darcie's reading. His accent and cadence transport listeners to Haiti where they learn about the country's history and the contemporary events surrounding the earthquake. Shorty has spent his young life witnessing and perpetrating violence. He's in the hospital with a gunshot wound when the earthquake strikes and he's buried in rubble. Shorty tells his story as he waits to be rescued—or to die. Somehow he is also connecting with Francois-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture, former slave and leader of the late 19th-century Haitian Revolution. In this way, Haiti's history is woven into the story. Even before the horror and destruction of the earthquake, Shorty has endured the brutal murder of his father, the abduction of his twin sister, and numerous gang-related killings. The parallels between contemporary Haiti and the country during the revolution are deftly drawn and will lead to interesting classroom discussions about freedom, poverty, loyalty/betrayal, slavery, hope/despair, and more. As Shorty is rescued and reunited with his mother, listeners have the sense that he has changed and has learned something profound while struggling to survive in the darkness.—Cynthia Ortiz, Hackensack High School Library, NJ

School Library Journal

A tale of two Haitis—one modern, one historic—deftly intertwine in a novel for teens and adults. Readers first meet Shorty under the rubble of the recent earthquake, as he struggles to make sense of his past, present and future. Through flashbacks, they learn of his gangster life in a dangerous Port-au-Prince slum, where he searches for his twin sister, Marguerite, after they've been separated by gang violence. In his stressed state, Shorty communes with the spirit of Toussaint l'Ouverture, leader of the slave uprising that ultimately transformed Haiti into the world's first black republic. Lake (Blood Ninja II: The Revenge of Lord Oda, 2010, etc.) adeptly alternates chapters between "Now" (post-earthquake) and "Then" (circa turn-of-the-19th century). His minimalist, poetic style reveals respect for vodou culture, as well as startling truths: "In darkness, I count my blessings like Manman taught me. One: I am alive. Two: there is no two." While the images of slavery and slum brutality are not for the faint-hearted, and Shorty's view of humanitarian workers may stir debate, readers will be inspired to learn more about Haiti's complex history. Timed for the second anniversary of the Haitian earthquake, this double-helix-of-a-story explores the nature of freedom, humanity, survival and hope. A dark journey well worth taking—engrossing, disturbing, illuminating. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 & up)

Kirkus Reviews