{"product_id":"dream-country-paperback","title":"Dream Country - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eShannon Gibney\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe heartbreaking story of five generations of young people from a single African-and-American family pursuing an elusive dream of freedom.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Gut wrenching and incredible.\"-- Sabaa Tahir #1 \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author of \u003ci\u003eAn Ember in the Ashes\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This novel is a remarkable achievement.\"--Kelly Barnhill, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/i\u003ebestselling author and Newbery medalist \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Beautifully epic.\"--Ibi Zoboi, author\u003ci\u003e American Street \u003c\/i\u003eand National Book Award finalist \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eDream Country \u003c\/i\u003ebegins 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 the ones who wield it. With each new section, the novel uncovers fresh hope and resonating heartbreak, all based on historical fact. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eDream Country, \u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eShannon Gibney is an author and university professor. Her novel \u003ci\u003eSee No Color, \u003c\/i\u003e drawn from her life as a transracial adoptee, was hailed by \u003ci\u003eKirkus\u003c\/i\u003e as an exceptionally accomplished debut and by \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003eas an unflinching look at the complexities of racial identity. Her essay Fear of a Black Mother appears in the anthology \u003ci\u003eA Good Time for the Truth.\u003c\/i\u003e Her sophomore novel, \u003ci\u003e Dream Country, \u003c\/i\u003ereceived five starred reviews and earned her a second Minnesota Book Award. She lives with her two Liberian-American children in Minneapolis, Minnesota. www.shannongibney.com and @gibneyshannon\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 368\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1 x 8 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 09, 2019\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42688639795263,"sku":"9780735231689","price":15.59,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0105\/8226\/1823\/files\/68787dd7dc2ac4c2f53eadfed533b03a.webp?v=1764982650","url":"https:\/\/dhlswag.com\/products\/dream-country-paperback","provider":"BBB","version":"1.0","type":"link"}