Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Timbairmius. When Jean Demeric was a child in Haiti,

books offered an escape that he says saved his life. The ability to disappear to other worlds

helped him deal with the violence and poverty he witnessed growing up in Port-au-Prince.

In his new book, A Son to Be Sown, Demerique uses fiction to confront the brutality and poverty

he's seen.

He tells the story of a 12-year-old girl, who's the child of a sex worker and ruthless gangleader.

Demeric says, the written word is what gives his protagonist agency amid the horror she often has to confront.

Poetry. It's like a victory for the main character, he tells NPR host Arii Shapiro.

And for Demerique, there's a similar way the written word sets him free.

In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.

Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors. On our new show, Sources and Methods,

NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant

events matter here at home.

Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Growing up in Haiti, Jean-Demaric found an escape from violence through hip-hop.

When he was 18 years old, he discovered Tony Morrison.

In Port-au-Prince, you have people who sell, like, used books in the streets, and I found a book of Tony Morrison, and I started to read it in the street. The book was beloved.

Reading Tony Morrison, I can travel away from my neighborhood.

Jean-Amaric became a poet and playwright.

We reached him in France to talk about his new book, a slim, brutal novel called A Son to Be Sown.

The English translation is out today.

It's about a schoolgirl growing up in a slum. Her mother is a sex worker, her father figure, a ruthless gang henchman. And she's

...