Description
Each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays testament to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances.
A family living in a makeshift shanty in urban Kenya scurries to find gifts of any kind for the impending Christmas holiday. A Rwandan girl relates her family’s struggles to maintain a facade of normalcy amid unspeakable acts. A young brother and sister cope with their uncle’s attempt to sell them into slavery. Aboard a bus filled with refugees—a microcosm of today’s Africa—a Muslim boy summons his faith to bear a treacherous ride across Nigeria. Through the eyes of childhood friends the emotional toll of religious conflict in Ethiopia becomes viscerally clear.
Uwem Akpan’s debut signals the arrival of a breathtakingly talented writer who gives a matter-of-fact reality to the most extreme circumstances in stories that are nothing short of transcendent.
Author: Uwem Akpan
Publisher: Back Bay Books
Published: September 18, 2009
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 13.6 ounces
Size: 5.5 x 0.96 x 8.25 inches
ISBN13: 9780316086370
ISBN10: 0316086371
BISAC Categories:
- Coming of Age Fiction
- Short Stories
- Literary Fiction