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What Members Thought
I couldn't decide b/t a 4 or 5 star rating. The stories are beyond imagination in terms of the violence, fear, and loss experienced as seen through the eyes of children in several African countries. I did have a hard time understanding the writing at times as it was written to show the dialect of the country. the short stories are really beyond my capability of describing them. I needed a "light" or humorous book to read after this one.
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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.
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A collection of tragic stories about the victimization of children in various countries of modern Africa.
It's hard to give a star rating to this book. The stories about children in Africa are horrific yet important for us in Western culture to hear. The writing was excellent, but it's difficult to say I "liked" the book, more less say it was amazing due to the subject matter. This is a book that will stay with me and haunt me.
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Dec 26, 2009
Janna
marked it as to-read
Feb 12, 2010
Renate
added it
Apr 28, 2012
Amy
marked it as to-read
Aug 15, 2013
Jenifer
marked it as to-read
Nov 10, 2016
Alan
marked it as to-read
Feb 06, 2018
Rebecca
marked it as to-read
Aug 02, 2018
Terri
marked it as around-the-world
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review of another edition
Shelves:
awards-nom-pen,
african-fiction
May 19, 2019
Crystal
marked it as to-read
Mar 24, 2020
Anna
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2023
Bill
marked it as to-read
