Together We See
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
★ "An adrenaline rush-inducing must-read." --School Library Journal, starred review
★ "A powerful and moving depiction of seeking justice amid mourning." -- Booklist, starred review
This edge-of-your-seat Indigenous murder-mystery set in Costa Rica from Pura Belpré and Walter Dean Myers Award-winning author of Saints of the Household is perfect for fans of Firekeeper's Daughter and Patron Saints of Nothing.
How far would you go to protect your land? To protect your family?
Told in multiple points of view, Together We See follows Ulá Dominguez, a Bribri-American teenager, searching for the truth behind her land-activist father's mysterious death on their Native territory in Costa Rica. Ulá and her brother, Kabék, uncover secrets and corruption as they face off against illegal loggers, kidnappers, settlers, and the local government in the hunt for clues. Their only allies are a few family friends and relatives still living in Bribri, as well as a young journalist, who may be in danger himself. But as details of their father's death emerge, long-held trust is broken. And in this sinister web of deception, no one is safe.
Inspired by real-world missing, dead, and attacked Indigenous activists, award-winning author Ari Tison writes her first novel in prose and pushes the envelope yet again by pulling together a propulsive story full of grief, environmental justice, and the fight for retribution.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tison (Saints of the Household) presents an ambitious dual-perspective mystery that interweaves family drama with themes of identity and belonging. After her parents' divorce, Bribri teen Ulá finishes high school in Wisconsin while living with her mother; her older brother, Kabék, joins their land activist father in Costa Rica. Ulá frequently feels at odds with her dad, whom she believes is forsaking his familial responsibilities in favor of advocating for political reform. His sudden death brings the siblings back together on Bribri land, where their grief quickly gives way to suspicion about the event's cause. As they prepare for the funeral, Ulá and Kabék launch an investigation, uncovering a tangled web of family secrets and bitter land disputes—conflicts sharp enough to suggest that their father may have been murdered. Time-stamped chapters alternate between Ulá's staccato first-person narration and an omniscient chorus of ancestral matriarchs, building tension and lending the story a lyrical cadence as the search for truth guides Ulá toward a more complex understanding of both her parent and herself. Tightly constructed and featuring thoughtful reflections on Indigenous identity, this resonant and rewarding novel will appeal to fans of Angeline Boulley. Ages 12–up.
