ABOUT THE BOOK
Together We See
by Ari Tison
Ages 12-18
This edge-of-your-seat Indigenous murder-mystery set in Costa Rica from Pura Belpré and Walter Dean Myers Award-winning author of Saints of the Household is perfect for fans of Firekeeper’s Daughter and Patron Saints of Nothing.
How far would you go to protect your land? To protect your family?
Told in multiple points of view, Together We See follows Ulá Dominguez, a Bribri-American teenager, searching for the truth behind her land-activist father’s mysterious death on their Native territory in Costa Rica. Ulá and her brother, Kabék, uncover secrets and corruption as they face off against illegal loggers, kidnappers, settlers, and the local government in the hunt for clues. Their only allies are a few family friends and relatives still living in Bribri, as well as a young journalist, who may be in danger himself. But as details of their father’s death emerge, long-held trust is broken. And in this sinister web of deception, no one is safe.
Inspired by real-world missing, dead, and attacked Indigenous activists, award-winning author Ari Tison writes her first novel in prose and pushes the envelope yet again by pulling together a propulsive story full of grief, environmental justice, and the fight for retribution.
About the Author
Ari Tison is the award-winning poet and author of YA hybrid novel Saints of the Household (2023) and Together We See (2026) with FSG/Macmillan. Saints of the Household was the winner of the Walter Dean Myers Award, the Pura Belpré Award, the Amelia Walden Award, the Américas Award, and a finalist for the William C. Morris Award and the International Literacy Award. Ari’s work has beenchosen as a Best Book of the Month by Amazon, and Best Book of 2023 by Kirkus Reviews, School Library Journal, New York Public Library, BCCB, and Chicago Public Library along with receiving several starred trade reviews from Kirkus, BCCB, Booklist, and SLJ. Ari’s poetry and short work have been widely anthologized and published in various literary magazines. Ari teaches at Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults. Ari is Afro-Indigenous and belongs to the Bribri tribe, one of the eight federally and globally recognized tribes of contemporary Costa Rica. She lives in her hometown of Twin Cities, Minnesota with her sons.
Praise for Together We See
Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
★ “An adrenaline rush-inducing must-read.” —School Library Journal, starred review
★ “A powerful and moving depiction of seeking justice amid mourning.” —Booklist, starred review
“Writing in the first-person for Ulá and ingeniously using omnipresent narration for other characters, Tison weaves in Bribri folklore, reflections on the fight for Indigenous Costa Rican rights, and the weight of familial ties to great impact. Rich, complex, and powerful in matters of the heart.” —Kirkus Reviews
“A welcome, engrossing addition to the growing landscape of suspenseful Indigenous young adult literature.” —The Horn Book
“Tison builds a dramatic murder mystery about corrupt systems, familial ties, and how to “re-matriate” Indigenous land. Ulá’s first-person narration is crisp and direct, while a chorus of Bribri ancestors gracefully depict several side characters’ experiences.” —Shelf Awareness