Land of Mountains - Jinx Schwartz, Author

‘Yep, that first year in Haiti was a ring-tailed tooter. I’d learned a new language, met a zombie, survived polio and malaria, and nearly started a revolution. I couldn’t wait for 1954.’

Elizabeth Ann, called Lizbuthann by most, is originally from Texas, but will soon find herself in what will become her "beloved" Haiti. Hopefully for her parents, she will stay out of trouble. But even at the tender age of 10, Lizbuthann has learned that she has always been
and will always be in some sort of trouble. And moving to Haiti while
her father helps build a dam isn't going to stop trouble from finding
her or better yet, her from finding it.

So, her troubles start with the plane ride over. She was served some of the best snow cones she had ever eaten or should I say drank. But they didn’t call them snow cones on the plane.
They called them frozen daiquiris and after gulping down two of them,
Lizbuthann was feeling just fine. That is until the plane landed and
she noticed 4 heads on stakes rotting in the heat. And this all happens
on her first day there with much, much more to come.

Land of Mountains was a total surprise for me. When I saw the story took place in Haiti and zombies were involved, I expected a supernatural story. I was big
time wrong. It’s actually the story of a young girl, her best friend
and the antics they get into while trying to keep themselves amused in a
foreign country. Lizbuthann goes from slipping out at night to observe
a voodoo ritual to falling almost on top of an honest to goodness
“zombie.” And it just gets better from there.

Once in a while I run across a book that I really sing praises to and Land of Mountains is one of them. I’ve laughed, come very close to crying and have
really enjoyed this book. Author Jinx Schwartz not only entertains us
with Land of Mountains, she also slips in a little Haitian history...
the building of the dam, the revolutions and the dictators that rule and
ruled the country. You can’t help but love Land of Mountains.

2010

Treble Heart Books

314 pages

ISBN# 978-1-936127-21-4