false 2314553 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg 2314553 17 2320979 17 4 2008 Twenty Chickens For A Saddle total:174|5:39|4:81|3:42|2:10|1:2| 174 667 371 68 1040606 3.83 174 68 12085152 619011 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 150 2008 5 2 false Fri May 02 15:54:37 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 09 13:14:12 -0800 2008 Fri May 02 15:54:37 -0700 2008 more...]]> 41569078 902002 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 5 1 false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 01 22:53:35 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 01 22:53:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 40484440 1779592 3400395 000726514X 9780007265145 1 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3400395.Twenty_Chickens_for_a_Saddle_The_Story_of_an_African_Childhood 5.00 1 2008 5 1 false Fri Dec 19 14:23:44 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 10 16:22:15 -0800 2009 52702883 2163145 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 16:59:09 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 19:52:42 -0700 2009 more...]]> 47550000 1260083 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Mon Mar 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Feb 25 19:00:48 -0800 2009 Mon Mar 09 16:10:47 -0700 2009 more...]]> 73026040 2793072 3070650 1594201595 9781594201592 3 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256048584m/3070650.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256048584s/3070650.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3070650.Twenty_Chickens_for_a_Saddle_The_Story_of_an_African_Childhood 4.50 8 A glorious new voice on Africa, Robyn Scott's adventures growing up in Botswana in a loving but eccentric family will be one of the season's most talked-about memoirs

Robyn Scott's story of moving at the age of seven to Botswana with her adventure-seeking parents is described by Alexander McCall Smith as "beautifully written" and "acutely observed." It is that and more. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is an exquisitely rendered portrait of Africa, and of childhood, written by an astonishing new talent.

The Scotts are truly one of the most unusual families you are likely to meet. Robyn's father is a flying doctor who always wanted to be a vet. Her mother believes in holistic medicine and homeschooling. Both are deeply eccentric, and under their affectionate but relaxed guidance, life for the children is a daily adventure of the kind usually confined to storybooks.

Storybooks-or being read to from them-comprise, it turns out, most of their homeschooled education. That, and searching the surrounding bush for animals (poisonous and otherwise) to let loose in their schoolroom. As a result of the absolute freedom of spirit, thought, and movement that they are given, all three children grow into fascinating, if rather eccentric, characters in their own right.

When the family moves to a game farm bordering South Africa, the children become more aware of the darker undercurrents of life in Africa. Here the apartheid mind-set lives on in many of their white South African neighbors. And when at fourteen Robyn begins conventional school in neighboring Zimbabwe, she sees more of the racism initially only glimpsed in Botswana. AIDS also rears its head. Long witnessed by Robyn's father at his village clinics, the existence of the disease is acknowledged by the government too late-only as death, on an unprecedented scale, begins to devastate this peaceful and prosperous African country.

Robyn Scott is an extraordinarily gifted writer and storyteller. Like the witch doctors who compete with her father for patients, she weaves a spell from the start. Her funny, moving memoir, told with clear-eyed unsentimental affection, is about an idyllic childhood and a family's enthusiasm for each other and the world around them, with the essence of Africa-both beautiful and challenging-infusing every page.]]> 2008 0 0 false Wed Sep 30 12:43:26 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 30 12:43:26 -0700 2009 more...]]> 70735465 1007094 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 1 false Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 11:36:14 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 11:40:16 -0700 2009 more...]]> 75548582 1022271 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 5 0 false Fri Oct 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 23 19:40:46 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 30 21:29:30 -0700 2009 more...]]> 63579145 2225443 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 15 07:58:09 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 08 07:58:56 -0700 2009 more...]]> 21817855 1037786 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 5 0 false Wed Jul 15 20:39:20 -0700 2009 Wed May 07 17:57:40 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 15 20:39:20 -0700 2009 more...]]> 19309173 1049480 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Wed Apr 02 12:41:51 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 21 09:03:08 -0700 2008 more...]]> 66021929 910712 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 12:02:14 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 03 12:08:57 -0700 2009 more...]]> 41676909 235074 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Tue Jan 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 02 20:24:49 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 07 16:34:13 -0800 2009
Historically, it turns into a com...more...]]> 59659315 139781 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 5 0 false Fri May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jun 14 17:05:32 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 17:07:12 -0700 2009
...more...]]> 76775202 2283213 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 3 0 false Wed Nov 04 21:08:23 -0800 2009 Wed Nov 04 21:11:47 -0800 2009 more...]]> 57348676 2007954 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Tue May 26 05:33:11 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 05:35:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 39476647 931214 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Sat Nov 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 17:38:06 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 17:41:27 -0800 2008 more...]]> 44766537 1971586 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 5 0 false Thu Jan 29 11:28:22 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 29 11:30:23 -0800 2009 54690561 1159787 6431911 014311509X 9780143115090 3 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256048574m/6431911.jpg http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1256048574s/6431911.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6431911-twenty-chickens-for-a-saddle 3.71 7 An exquisitely rendered portrait of an African childhood from an astonishing new talent

When Robyn Scott ’s parents decide to uproot their young family from New Zealand and move to a converted cowshed in rural Botswana, life for six-year-old Robyn changed forever. In this wild and new landscape excitement can be found around every corner, and with each misadventure she and her family learn more about the quirks, charms, and challenges of living in one of Africa’s most remarkable and beautiful countries as it stands on the brink of an epidemic. When AIDS rears its head, the Scotts witness the early appearances of a disease that will devastate this peaceful and prosperous country. Told with clear-eyed unsentimental affection, Twenty Chickens for a Saddle is about a family’s enthusiasm for each other and the world around them, with the essence of Africa infusing every page.]]> 2008 4 0 false Wed May 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 08:42:31 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 08:59:29 -0700 2009 1 64843086 2543600 2314553 014305693X 9780143056935 59 http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-111x148.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/images/nocover-60x80.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2314553.Twenty_Chickens_For_A_Saddle 3.83 174 2008 4 0 false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Jul 24 17:43:46 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 24 17:45:11 -0700 2009 8 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=2314553