by Uwem Akpan
The author of this collection of short stories (some are actually quite long stories) grew up in Nigeria. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2005 and received an MFA from U of Michigan in 2006. This is his first published book, and it is amazing.
The most powerful (for me) story was about a family living in a shanty town in urban Kenya. With work unavailable and the adults of the family sick or high from sniffing glue to escape the horror of their lives, the twelve year old girl prostitutes herself to keep her family eating. The narrator, her 10 year old brother, is expected to beg for coins to pay for the books at his school. It's a dismal setting told with gut-wrenching honesty.
The other stories deal with the alarming realities for children in other African countries: Rwanda, Ethiopia, Niger, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria. This book is a call to open our eyes, and a call to act. I will use the first story, at least, with my Women's Lit class. A tough, but important read.
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