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EAN: 9780349120638 Format: Import ISBN: 0349120633 Label: Abacus Manufacturer: Abacus Number Of Pages: 304 Publication Date: June 05, 2008 Publisher: Abacus Studio: Abacus Average Rating:
 Rating:  - Say... you're one of them!When psychologists treat childhood victims of trauma - war, violence or sexual abuse - they will often use props such as dolls or drawings to re-enact the event in a safe environment without judgment. These five stories are in a way voices of the child victims of Africa, told through the prop of fiction (a doll, a drawing), empty of ideological or political concern. Uwem Akpan has given nameless invisible victims a voice that is understandable and easily empathetical by people everywhere. ... Read More Rating:  - Dark tales, from the Dark ContinentThese stories of central Africa took me to places I didn't know existed, and didn't want to think could exist.In these stories, children endure the brunt of the worst kinds of human misery. With their hungry bellies and their quiet dignity, they also bear witness, as though they are standing in for us, the unknowing and naive, taking inventory of the horrors of ethnic wars and their relentless, unassailable poverty.The adults in the story who haven't gone mad with hatred, drugs, greed and fear, ... Read More Rating: - uneven but worthy voice to Africa's childrenAkpan seeks to give voice to Africa's suffering children.* Each of his stories portrays children or adolescents caught in the midst of an African tragedy, whether it's Rwanda's genocide, child trafficking in West Africa, or the grinding poverty of street life in Kenya. Each of the stories delves and yield insight into challenges that most Western readers can barely fathom. Akpan strives and often succeeds in capturing the confusion, uncertainty, and stress that life imposes on many ... Read More Rating: - Beyond Genius...Tales of Stolen Childhoodswow. this book is AMAZING. it's a masterpiece: the plot, the style, the words are simply genius. the way akpan describes these stories is incredible! yes, the book makes you think, yes it's eye-opening, but even more than that, it touches you as a fellow human being. as a reader, i felt connected to the characters. as an african, i understood their hardships. as a nigerian, i praise this author! this book is wonderful on SOO many levels. akpan delicately portrays childhood innocence and how that innocence ... Read More Rating: - Unforgettable, Beautiful, Authentic and WiseUwem Akpan is a Nigerian Jesuit priest and writing teacher living in Zimbabwe, and his stories are garnering much acclaim. Just a few pages into his debut collection, it is easy to see why. Beautiful and devastating, the five tales found in SAY YOU'RE ONE OF THEM are at once compelling and painful to read. All told from the narrative perspective of a child in crisis, they symbolize a continent in crisis as well. Set in African hot spots like Ethiopia and Rwanda, the stories revolve around themes of family ... Read More |
