Antes de ser libres (Before We Were Free) by Julia Alvarez, Liliana Valenzuela (Translator)

From the Publisher

Now available in Spanish, the book Horn Book called “a realistic and compelling account of a girl growing up too quickly while coming to terms with the cost of freedom.”

I wonder what it would be like to be free? Not to need wings because you don’t have to fly away from your country?

From award-winning author Julia Alvarez comes the story of Anita de la Torre, a 12-year-old girl living in the Dominican Republic in 1960. Most of her relatives have immigrated to the United States, her Tío Toni has disappeared, Papi has been getting mysterious phone calls about butterflies and someone named Mr. Smith, and the secret police have started terrorizing her family for their suspected opposition to the country’s dictator. While Anita deals with a frightening series of events, she also struggles with her adolescence and her own personal flight to be free.

Veronica E. Betancourt - Children's Literature

Part The Diary of Anne Frank and part first-person novel, this book tells the story of Anita's life in the Dominican Republic during the Trujillo dictatorship. The 12-year old writes not only of mysterious phone calls, secret police stakeouts, and the sudden evacuation of her cousins, but also of boys, growing up, and the desire to be normal and well liked. The compelling story takes Anita and her mother from their family compound into hiding in a closet, and finally to New York. Throughout these moves, we listen to Anita lose her voice as she learns the importance of staying quiet to survive. She wilts under the terror of Trujillo's dictatorship and only finds herself in documenting the events of her life in hiding. In this book, we witness the power of storytelling to sustain the will, as well as the ghastly realities of an oppressed country. Alvarez develops the complex changes in Anita's identity as a girl, Dominican, and writer effortlessly through Anita's candid voice. Valenzuela deserves congratulations for her preservation of Anita's accessible language in her translation; the story loses none of its momentum and intimacy. This 2002 Pura Belpré winner is an excellent novel for teaching the horror of dictatorship as well as the importance of freedom of speech. 2004 (orig. 2002), Dell Laurel-Leaf, Ages 10 to 15.

Product Details

• Reading Group Guide

Reading Group Guide

1. Throughout the book, Anita watches her mother to judge the situation in the compound. Her mother often changes her approach to Anita–sometimes treating her as an adult, sometimes as a child. Why do you feel Anita’s mother does that? How does Anita react, and how do you think she would like to be treated? Do you feel she is old enough to be hearing the truth, or should her mother shelter her more?

2. In the beginning of the book, Anita’s extended family suddenly flees the country, leaving only Anita and her immediate family behind. The family lives in a compound and is extremely close. What role does the family, immediate and extended, play in this book? Does Anita realize that not everyone has the relationship her family experiences?

3. Anita is at a stage of her life where questioning authority becomes a common occurrence. In this book, there are several different authority figures that are forcing her to behave in certain ways, such as the government, the opposition army, and her family. How does she deal with this authority? How does she get around some of the rules?

4. Anita and her sister have a typical relationship that most readers can understand. Does this attitude toward each other represent a determination to keep a certain level of normalcy in a very frightening and often dangerous situation? How do both of their attitudes change once the quinceañera occurs?

5. Discuss the importance of the compound in this book, specifically the loss of the family’s freedom to go outside the gates, as well as the areas inside the compound that were off limits.

6. In order to shield the rest of the family, Anita’s father andthe group running the opposition speak outside of the house, not realizing that Anita’s window is right next to their meeting place. How did hearing these conversations affect Anita? Do you feel she was better off knowing the truth, or did the whole situation make her grow up faster than necessary?

7. After the compound becomes unsafe for Anita and her family, Anita and her mother secretly move to a safe house location and live in a closet. Compare this experience to historical events that caused people to go into hiding, to be detained because of their beliefs or nationalities, and to be threatened with death. Is there any particular person that she reminds you of?

8. Anita befriends an American boy, Sam. At her tender age of 12, she is divided between her child-like view of the world and her adult emotions. How does her ever-changing view of life affect her relationship with Sam and with her friend Oscar, who is from her country?

9. What role does American culture play in this novel? Specifically, discuss the quinceañera and the Sweet Sixteen rites of passage and the idea that Anita and her family recognize American holidays, such as Thanksgiving.

10. At the end of the novel, Anita has lost some of her family to the violence in her native country. How does she feel about the sacrifice that her family had to make? Does she truly understand the impact that her family made on her country’s history?