by Nick Lake
337 pages
In Darkness is a book set in Haiti. The chapters alternate between two different narrations. They are called “Now” and “Then.” The “Now” chapters are told from the first-person perspective of “Shorty” who is a teenaged boy trapped under the rubble that resulted from the 2010 earthquake that shook Haiti. The “Then” chapters are from the omniscient perspective and follow Toussaint l’Ouverture who was the real-life slave who won the freedom of thousands of African’s in Haiti in the late 1700s.
Both characters are fighting their own wars. “Shorty” takes part in a brutal gang war and is also a victim of poverty. As he tells us his story, he is trapped in a hospital where he is a patient because of a gunshot wound. He tells us how he got there, how he got involved in the gang life to begin with. “Shorty” is a good kid. It his kind of hard to make that claim because he has killed many people, but ultimately, he is just a kid who is a product of his surroundings. What is really interesting about “Shorty” is that he is protected by vudo. The “Now” portions of the book intersperse Kreyol and French language and open us up to the beliefs of the Haitian people. I thought it was really fascinating learning about pwens – stones that hold the spirits of the Haitian gods (lwa). We learn that “Shorty” has had many brushes with death, but has been protected by a pwen that was given to him by the former gang lord.
Toussaint is fighting the war against the French and the slave owners. As the honorable leader of this uprising, Toussaint is responsible for freeing thousands of African slaves and fighting for a free Haiti. At work, we are currently reading Julius Caesar and Toussaint reminds me of Brutus in that they are both fighting for what they believe to be what’s best for their country, their homes. While I admit that I didn’t know anything about the real Toussaint before reading this, I did to a little research once I found out he was a real person. What I found most fascinating about Toussaint was his desire to win their freedom as peacefully as possible. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that in a war, lives would be lost, but he ordered his men not to attack unless absolutely necessary.
This book was good. I found out that we even have it at school for sophomore English, but I don’t think that I would teach it to my class. Some of the language was too much during “Shorty’s” story. I do like that there is a lot of social commentary in here, but I think it could have been presented a little better. The coolest part of this story was the connection formed between Toussaint and “Shorty”. Two utterly different people share an unlikely bond, but both become voices for their people.
I suppose I would recommend it if you like stories like this. If you don’t particularly like them, but have an open mind, then it could be good for you too. It did win the Michael L. Printz Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature, so there is some literary merit to it too.
3 Stars