{"product_id":"free-lea-ypi-9780393867732","title":"Free: A Child and a Country at the End of History","description":"\u003cp\u003eFamily and nation formed a reliable bedrock of security for precocious 11-year-old Lea Ypi. She was a Young Pioneer, helping to lead her country toward the future of perfect freedom promised by the leaders of her country, the People's Socialist Republic of Albania. Then, almost overnight, the Berlin Wall fell and the pillars of her society toppled. The local statue of Stalin, whom she had believed to be a kindly leader who loved children, was beheaded by student protestors.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUncomfortable truths about her family's background emerged. Lea learned that when her parents and neighbors had spoken in whispers of friends going to \"university\" or relatives \"dropping out,\" they meant something much more sinister. As she learned the truth about her family's past, her best friend fled the country. Together with neighboring post-Communist states, Albania began a messy transition to join the \"free markets\" of the Western world: a dystopia of pyramid schemes, organized crime, and sex trafficking. Her father, despite his radical left-wing convictions, was forced to fire workers; her mother became a conservative politician on the model of Margaret Thatcher. Lea's typical teen concerns about relationships and the future were shot through with the existential: the nation was engulfed in civil war.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYpi's outstanding literary gifts enable her to weave together this colorful, tumultuous coming-of-age story in a time of social upheaval with thoughtful, fresh, and invigorating perspective on the relation between the personal and the political, and on deep questions about freedom: What does freedom consist of, and for whom? What conditions foster it? Who among us is truly free?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Lea Ypi\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0393867730\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780393867732\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e W. W. Norton \u0026amp; Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/18\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.10w x 1.10d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2021 pg. 15\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/11\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/01\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2021 pg. 92\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/15\/2021 pg. 83\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/01\/2022","brand":"Lea Ypi","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":44053937520895,"sku":"9780393867732","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_f470d267-4657-4156-bfad-9e5dde7a9666.jpg?v=1685027080","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/free-lea-ypi-9780393867732","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}