From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
The short stories in this book are very well-written, but very hard to read, because of the topics they cover - child trafficking, genocide, civil strife. THe author tells the stories in a detached way, and I think that is a strength of the book, because otherwise these heart-wrenching stories would be too difficult to bear. No Hollywood endings here, but real insight into the human side of some very difficult problems and tragedies.
Maybe a 2.5. Some of it was very annoying and difficult to read. The author used a sort of "pidgin english" and deliberate mispronunciations, etc. One story just went on and on too long in the same vein. I think Oprah raved about it simply because it was about black children in Africa. It was interesting and informative but not necessarily entertaining.
...more
This collection of stories of children dealing with the horrors of slavery, war, and genocide will tear you apart and put you back together again. Loved this book even before Oprah made this a part of her book club!
A collection of tragic stories about the victimization of children in various countries of modern Africa.
The only part that I didn't enjoy about this book was that the first couple of stories just sort of ended. I hadn't realized that there were multiple stories and kept hoping that it would get back to them; that said the writing and the stories got better and better. A wonderful book.
...more
I am having a really hard time getting into this book. It's disturbing but also kind of boring and hard to follow.
Is anyone else reading this? What do you think? If you've finished it, let me know if it's worth the effort. ...more
Is anyone else reading this? What do you think? If you've finished it, let me know if it's worth the effort. ...more
Jul 29, 2008
Ching-In
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2010
Renate
added it
Jul 11, 2011
Jackie
marked it as to-read
Feb 18, 2014
Terri FL
marked it as to-read
Sep 26, 2014
Nikki Morse
marked it as to-read
Oct 01, 2015
Jenny
added it
Oct 30, 2016
Julie Griffin
marked it as to-read
