Middle-Grade Review: Behind the Mountains

Book By Book

I was looking for one more audio book for Black History Month and zeroed in on my backlog of middle-grade audios, since I only had one week left in February to listen to it. I chose Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Dandicat and thoroughly enjoyed this story of a girl’s journey from the mountains of Haiti to the concrete jungle of New York City.

Celiane lives with her mother and older brother in a small, rural village in the mountains of Haiti. They have a small farm, but Celiane’s father moved to New York five years ago so that he could earn money to send back to his family, due to limited opportunities in Haiti. The rest of the family are waiting for their visas to be approved so they can join him. Celiane is the top student in her class, but her parents want to provide better educational options for her. And her brother, Moy, is training to be a tailor, though he dreams of being an artist. Celiane and her mother travel down the mountain to the city of Port-au-Prince to visit Celiane’s aunt. There is growing danger in the city, as the election draws near and supporters of both sides resort to violence. Traveling on a bus one day, Celiane and her mother are both badly injured when the bus is bombed. Now, there is even more reason to leave Haiti, and their visas are soon approved. The three family members travel to New York to join Celiane’s father, but Brooklyn is an entirely different world from what they are used to! They each struggle to adjust to their new, strange lives.

Celiane’s teacher gave her a notebook to use as a journal, so the novel is written from Celiane’s perspective, as she records her family’s experiences in her journal. This first-person narrative allows the reader to experience both Haiti and all the new things in New York just as Celiane does. The lovely voice and accent of narrator Ella Turenne on the audio adds to this immersive experience. I enjoyed the unique setting, as I’d never read a novel set in Haiti before, and the author does a wonderful job of describing both the serene rural areas in the mountains and the raucous, colorful city. The novel also beautifully depicts the immigrant experience, as even a very smart student like Celiane struggles to keep up in a foreign language and feels out of place among so many students different from her. New York is a difficult adjustment for all of them. In an author’s note, Dandicat explains that the novel is based on her own family’s experiences when she was a child, and that realism shines through. I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying Celiane on her journey to a new life.

192 pages, Scholastic

Scholastic Audio

NOTE: This novel will be re-released in paperback and audio on April 5, 2022.

This book fits in the following 2022 Reading Challenges:

Diversity Challenge

Travel the World in Books – Haiti

Disclosure: I received this book from the publisher in return for an honest review. My review is my own opinion and is not influenced by my relationship with the publisher or author.

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Listen to a sample of the audiobook here and/or download it from Audible. Note that the audio sample will be available on April 5, 2022.

You can buy the book through Bookshop.org, where your purchase will support the indie bookstore of your choice (or all indie bookstores)–the convenience of shopping online while still buying local!

Or you can order Behind the Mountains from Book Depository, with free shipping worldwide.