{"id":48424,"date":"2021-08-26T11:12:28","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T15:12:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/?p=48424"},"modified":"2021-08-24T13:32:58","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T17:32:58","slug":"how-beautiful-we-were-by-imbolo-mbue-in-booklist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/how-beautiful-we-were-by-imbolo-mbue-in-booklist\/","title":{"rendered":"How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue [in Booklist]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"*STARRED REVIEW<\/strong>
\nImbolo Mbue\u2019s PEN\/Faulkner-winning Behold the Dreamers<\/em> unveiled immigrants chasing the American Dream; her searing sophomore title exposes U.S. destruction beyond its borders. In an unnamed African nation, oil giant Pexton has been poisoning the farming village of Kosawa \u2013 water, land, air, and people. With the country\u2019s dictatorship greedily dependent on Pexton\u2019s unimpeded success, intervention proves impossible.\u00a0A local takes matters into his own hands, igniting a multi-generational stand-off between foreign corporate greed and multiplying victims, inevitably escalating toward tragedy.<\/p>\n

An extensive cast elevates Mbue\u2019s narrative with luminous characterizations: most prevalent is Prentice Onayemi, who voices \u201cthe children\u201d \u2013 chorus-like witnesses who eventually become grown men, still struggling decades later to claim control over their homes and lives. Lisa Renee Pitts urgently, hauntingly embodies Thula, singled out among the children to be sent away for a U.S. education that will transform her into the triumphantly returning village savior. JD Jackson is her younger brother Juba, who almost dies as a boy, and who will live to become an arrogant man. Janina Edwards is unsettled as the siblings\u2019 mother Sahel; Dion Graham mesmerizes as their uncle Bongo; Allyson Johnson achingly survives as their grandmother Yaya. The all-too-rare, who-read-whom cast list at recording\u2019s end is another reason for that standing ovation.<\/p>\n

Review<\/strong>: modified from \u201cMedia,\u201d Booklist<\/em>, July 2021<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Young Adult, Adult<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2021<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*STARRED REVIEW Imbolo Mbue\u2019s PEN\/Faulkner-winning Behold the Dreamers unveiled immigrants chasing the American Dream; her searing sophomore title exposes U.S. destruction beyond its borders. In an unnamed African nation, oil giant Pexton has been poisoning the farming village of Kosawa \u2013 water, land, air, and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,287,81,142,6,6535,31],"tags":[7775,84,6608,6668,341,75,1136,10,11,9845,51,123,9844,7492,9846,9847,13,39,840],"class_list":["post-48424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adult-readers","category-african","category-audio","category-black-african-american","category-fiction","category-repost","category-young-adult-readers","tag-allyson-johnson","tag-betrayal","tag-bookdragon","tag-booklist","tag-colonialism","tag-death","tag-dion-graham","tag-family","tag-friendship","tag-how-beautiful-we-were","tag-identity","tag-illness","tag-imbolo-mbue","tag-janina-edwards","tag-jd-jackson","tag-lisa-renee-pitts","tag-love","tag-parent-child-relationship","tag-prentice-onayemi"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue [in Booklist] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/how-beautiful-we-were-by-imbolo-mbue-in-booklist\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Beautiful We Were by Imbolo Mbue [in Booklist] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"*STARRED REVIEW Imbolo Mbue\u2019s PEN\/Faulkner-winning Behold the Dreamers unveiled immigrants chasing the American Dream; her searing sophomore title exposes U.S. destruction beyond its borders. 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