Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Sep 2019
432 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
When a school presentation goes very wrong, Alaine Beauparlant finds herself suspended, shipped off to Haiti and writing the report of a lifetime.
You might ask the obvious question: What do I, a seventeen-year-old Haitian American from Miami with way too little life experience, have to say about anything?
Actually, a lot.
Thanks to "the incident" (don't ask), I'm spending the next two months doing what my school is calling a "spring volunteer immersion project." It's definitely no vacation. I'm toiling away under the ever-watchful eyes of Tati Estelle at her new nonprofit. And my lean-in queen of a mother is even here to make sure I do things right. Or she might just be lying low to dodge the media sharks after a much more public incident of her own…and to hide a rather devastating secret.
All things considered, there are some pretty nice perks…like flirting with Tati's distractingly cute intern, getting actual face time with my mom and experiencing Haiti for the first time. I'm even exploring my family's history—which happens to be loaded with betrayals, superstitions and possibly even a family curse.
You know, typical drama. But it's nothing I can't handle.
"Seamlessly blending story lines and allusions to Haiti's history and culture, the authors create an indelible, believable character in Alaine—naive, dynamic, and brutally honest—who stretches and grows as her remarkable, affectingly rendered family relationships do." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This exploration of a culture steeped in magical realism beautifully showcases the sacrifices we are sometimes called to make for the ties that bind us. Enchanting." - Kirkus Reviews
"The Moulite Sisters have given us a refreshing and balanced view of Haiti through the eyes of Alaine, a remarkable, funny, and whip-smart young Haitian-American coming to terms with both herself and her heritage. Dear Haiti, Love Alaine is, at its heart, also an American story--necessary, hopeful, and enlightening." - Ibi Zoboi, author of American Street, National Book Award Finalist
"Maika and Maritza Moulite's Dear Haiti, Love Alaine is an enchanting and engrossing novel full of wit and laughter along with a tantalizing generational mystery. Alaine Beauparlant is that rare character who feels like your complicated but indispensable friend, one you wish you could stay in touch with and hear more fascinating and absorbing stories from long after finishing the book." - Edwidge Danticat, author of Breath, Eyes, Memory
"Sisters Maika and Maritza Moulite's debut is nothing short of extraordinarily loving. The novel portrays Haiti, too often reduced to grim images of poverty and human suffering in modern fiction, as a challenging and beautiful nation of proud and shining souls." – Ben Philippe, author of The Field Guide to the North American Teenager
"The Moulite sisters' stunning debut made me fall in love with Haiti and its people. Heroine Alaine's charming, warm and insightful voice delivered the story I needed as a kid. It was pure black girl magic!" – Dana L. Davis, author of The Voice in My Head
This information about Dear Haiti, Love Alaine was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Maika Moulite and Maritza Moulite are self-professed bookworms who have been devouring YA for years. They grew up in Miami with two more Moulite sisters, a large extended family, a love for the ocean, and their own Haitian culture. The character Alaine is an amalgamation of their experiences (to a certain degree), and their goal is to make Haitian culture and history more accessible through a fun, fast-paced, but also introspective storyline that anyone can relate to.
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