Rise, Do Not Be Afraid

Fiction. Embedded in the novel's winding tales, memory and dreams mingle and sing, asking us to question our preconceptions about history--whose version becomes truth? Spanning decades and generations, RISE, DO NOT BE AFRAID serves as social commentary and is a lyric, fervent prayer for redemption in a time when there is urgent need for both. "Abeyta's language is tender and prophetic, his characters made of fragrant cedars and holy myth. To read this book is to enter a time and place where newborn children with psychic tongues drift in dreams, a space that defies language and the notion that la vida is a linear ride. His words shift and rush, from solid ice to silent rivulets, shaping, with steady calculation, the canyon of his people's history"--Tim Hernandez.

It was the last good year for Santa Rita, a town that once thrived in the shadow of the Sangre de Cristo mountain range. But the communidad's fragile bonds of honor, obligation, and love unravel when "the devil comes like bad water through the oldest and weakest parts of a place." Embedded in the novel's winding tales, memory and dream mingle and sing, asking us to question our preconceptions about history-whose version becomes truth? Faced with outsider infiltration and greed, Santa Rita's faith rests in the hands of her people, both the living and the dead. Spanning decades and generations, Rise, Do Not Be Afraid serves as social commentary and is a lyric, fervent prayer for redemption in a time when there is an urgent need for both.

Aaron A. Abeyta is the author of the novel Rise: Do Not Be Afraid. He has also written two poetry collections: Colcha, winner of the Colorado Book Award and the American Book Award, and As Orion Falls. He teaches at Adams State College in Alamosa and his family home is in Antonito, Colorado.