Synopsis "The Gold Exchange: Exposing Haiti's child slavery system"
Spoiled only child Danny White, a teen from an affluent family in Naples, Florida, experiences culture shock when he travels, unwillingly, with his parents as they embark on a six-month stint as teachers in a rural Haitian village. Danny encounters a gang of bullies that lives in the woods and vents its rage at the world on him. He is attacked several times until the final encounter. This novel is a work of fiction, but it exposes the restavek child slavery system legal in Haiti at the time of the 2010 earthquake. Restaveks are children placed in foster care with upper-class Haitian families who agree to take them in, provide for them, and educate them in exchange for a few household chores. Sadly, in 99% of the cases, the children are considered slaves, never sent to school and treated miserably. Danny learns all about the restaveks, along with many other staples of Haitian culture, including voodoo, extreme poverty, and the kindness that knows no national or international boundaries. His friendships with two Haitian teens, his enthusiasm for finding a way to help the residents of the small village of Montverdier, and his ultimate showdown with Brutis and his gang will leave the reader entertained, enthralled, and educated.
