The Story: Soraya dreams of the life she once knew: a loving mother, school, hope for the future. But now that her mother has died, her father has re-married, and her step-mother treats her as a slave, she feels alone and invisible. Until one day when she meets a little girl named Anita, who courage and sense of justice could change the course of Soraya’s life. Through this story the authors issue a challenge: Could you have this courage to change a life?

Story Behind the Story: Written by a team of young women served by the Restavek Freedom Foundation, Stand Up For Soraya aims to raise awareness about the inhumanity and injustice of child slavery in Haiti. At the same time, the books give these young women the opportunity to shape the stories of their own lives with power and possibility and hope.

This project was a collaboration between Restavek Freedom Foundation and Shout Mouse Press.

Restavek Freedom Foundation is a nonprofit organization based in Port-au-Prince, Haiti and Cincinnati, Ohio with a mission to end child slavery in Haiti in our lifetime. Since its inception in 2007, Restavek Freedom has worked on behalf of the 300,000 children living as restavek in Haiti. We advocate for children by providing educational opportunities for those living in restavek, influencing communities to help change cultural norms regarding restavek, and mobilizing community leaders to stand up for freedom. To learn more, visit www.RestavekFreedom.org.

Shout Mouse Press is a nonprofit writing program and publishing house for unheard voices. We were founded in Washington, DC in 2014. Shout Mouse partners with nonprofit organizations serving communities in need to design book projects that help further their mission. Our authors have produced original children’s books, memoir collections and novels-in-stories. To learn more and to see a full catalog of Shout Mouse titles, visit www.ShoutMousePress.org.