Book excerpt: "A Sky the Color of Chaos" chronicles M.J.'s perilous childhood during the turbulent rise and fall of Haiti's President-Priest - a time of nightly shootings, home invasions, robberies, and burning of former regime members in neighborhood streets. Haiti's rich culture and breathtaking beauty are contrasted not only with the terror in Port-au-Prince's streets, but also with the turmoil inside M.J.'s own home. Her father's hot-blooded nature and unpredictable moods amplify her fevered need to escape a home, and homeland, where random violence and bloodshed are commonplace.