Naomi Benaron has already won the Bellwether Prize for Running the Rift, a novel about a boy who grows up during the ethnic conflict in Rwanda and the 1994 genocide.
The last two winners of the Bellwether were also first novelists whose work showed teen appeal: Hillary Jordan, 2006, for Mudbound (Algonquin Books) and Heidi Durrow, 2008, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky (Algonquin Books).
I’m planning a couple new features on the AB4T blog in 2012. One is the addition of starred reviews. As you know, we only publish reviews of books that are recommended adult titles with teen appeal. Starred reviews will help to distinguish the truly outstanding titles featured along the way — those that might end up on a Best of the Year list, for example.
So, Happy New Year! Enjoy our first starred review!
* BENARON, Naomi. Running the Rift. 384p. Algonquin. Jan. 2012. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-1-61620-042-8. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–In 1984, Jean Patrick is only 9 or 10, the second son of a close Tutsi family living in Cyangugu, Rwanda on the grounds of the secondary school where his father is a teacher. Within the first pages, his father dies in a bus accident and his mother moves them to live with her brother, a fisherman. Perhaps in the countryside they can avoid the Hutu hostility beginning to emerge on campus. Soon after, Jean Patrick meets an Olympic marathon runner. From that day forward, he dreams of representing Rwanda at the Games. He is incredibly gifted and wins an academic scholarship to attend secondary school, where he also wins the interest of a coach, Rutembeza. Jean Patrick’s reputation grows, and saves him more than once as ethnic violence increases. When Rutembeza offers him a Hutu identification card to ensure safe travel to meets, Jean Patrick struggles with denying his true heritage. Meanwhile, his older brother joins the RPF (a Tutsi rebel group) after losing his fiancée in a massacre, his best friend is Hutu, and once at university Jean Patrick falls in love with a Tutsi woman, Bea, whose father is a well-known activist. Jean Patrick is ashamed not to be fighting alongside his brother until he realizes that his role is to show the world that a Tutsi can win the Olympics. Benaron successfully mitigates what could have been an unrelentingly grim narrative with a sympathetic main character, the love of family and country, the loyalty of friendship, the excitement of athletic competition, and the depth and purity of Jean Patrick’s love for Bea. Inevitably, horrendous acts of genocide transform Jean Patrick’s life and the scope of his dreams, but his hope never wavers.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
When her parents split, Blessing is moved from the comforts of a modern apartment complex to a poor rural village in the Niger Delta. The American teens we serve are certainly familiar with changes of circumstance – often due to parents who divorce, lose jobs or relocate. Blessing experiences all of those changes in one blow.
What I like about Tiny Sunbirds is that it is set in the present, and that it is easy to be hooked by Blessing’s voice and point of view, especially her disorientation. She is used to a modern way of life, much like ours, when she is suddenly uprooted. One day she cannot imagine life without running water, without electricity and school and plenty to eat. The next day she is learning to cook over a fire, carry clean water home from the village, and share a room and a bed with her mother and brother.
Nigerian writers of note include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, whose novels Half of a Yellow Sun (Knopf, 2006) and Purple Hibiscus (Algonquin, 2003) are probably in most of our libraries. Both are coming of age stories. And of course Chinua Achebe’s novel, Things Fall Apart (Holt, 1958) is frequently assigned in high schools around the country.
Watson is not African, she is British. Yet she brings a clear understanding of the issues of present-day Nigeria to her fiction, without letting them overwhelm the story. Add this to your list of go-to global fiction.
WATSON, Christie. Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away. 438p. Other. 2011. pap. $15.95. ISBN 978-159051-466-5. LC 2010054187.
Adult/High School–Blessing is 12 when her mother takes her and her 14-year-old brother, Ezekiel, away from their cheating father and their comfortable apartment in Lagos. They move in with Mama’s parents, Alhaji and Grandma, who live in a rural compound with no running water or electricity. Blessing is appalled by their change in circumstance, but at least Mama insists that they continue to attend school. Ezekiel is determined to be a doctor. The countryside is in political upheaval thanks to the foreign oil companies and the government-sponsored “Kill and Go” squads that regularly destroy villages and kidnap oil executives for ransom. The compound scrapes by on Grandma’s earnings as a midwife, Mama’s wages working in an oil-company club and, later, gifts from her white boyfriend, Dan. When Alhaji uses their fees for yet another unlikely money-making scheme, Ezekiel and Blessing stop going to school. Ezekiel loses hope and turns to other disaffected youth, while Blessing finds her calling as Grandma’s apprentice birth attendant. Blessing’s involving story brings home issues of cutting (female circumcision), polygamy, environmental degradation and its effects on the health of the poor, the causes of poverty in rural Nigeria, and the contrast between traditional and new ways of life. Only after surviving a terrible tragedy does Blessing learn that her childish perceptions of family were an illusion. She finds a better life, connected to her country, her extended family, and her own destiny. Teens will especially appreciate the struggles and joys of the sibling relationship, and the lyrical, yet clear, writing style.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart, New York City
Kamala Nair’s first novel was inspired by a trip to the tiny village in India where her father grew up. Nair describes her novel as a dark fairy tale, combined with a coming-of-age. Perfect choice for a teen summer read.
NAIR, Kamala. The Girl in the Garden: A Novel. 305p. Grand Central. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-446-57268-2. LC 2010016492.
Adult/High School–Rakhee Singh is 10 when she journeys from Minnesota for a summer visit to her mother’s family in a remote area of India. A shy but curious child, Rakhee hardly feels welcome when her cousins taunt her about the darkness of her skin and her aunts deride her weak eyesight, both of which she inherited from her father. She knows little of the provincial customs and caste structures and even less about the secrets that compel her extended family to behave so mysteriously and rudely around her. When Rakhee sneaks into the forbidden forest behind the family home, she discovers an exquisite walled-in garden where a girl has grown up completely isolated from the world. Rakhee befriends the mysterious girl, but her covert visits set in motion events that will tragically alter her family. It is not until many years later when Rakhee abandons her betrothed and returns to India that she finally confronts the complex relationships and entangled loves that seem to be her family heritage. Wanting her boyfriend to know the reason she has abandoned him, she leaves behind a manuscript telling the story of that long-ago summer. That manuscript becomes Nair’s first novel. It is an engaging family drama of unspoken secrets that will satisfy teens who enjoy stories teeming with mysterious characters and set in exotic locales where wandering white peacocks, girls imprisoned in gardens, and doomed love all seem completely at home.–John Sexton, formerly at Westchester Library System
Much has been made of the fact that Téa Obreht was named as one of the National Book Foundation’s 5 under 35 and to the New Yorker’s Top 20 under 40.
These are wonderful honors, and yes, Obreht is very young and talented. But what really matters is her writing. Her debut novel, The Tiger’s Wife is being released this week. It is a book that I fell in love with when I read the arc in January, and have been pressing people to add to their to-read lists ever since. I expect to see it on the major best books of the year lists, and it will certainly be on my personal favorites list come December.
Why for teens? It is not about a teenager (although the main character, Natalia, still acts and thinks like one sometimes). My instinct is to recommend this for teens because I know exactly which young readers I want to hand it to, and have been looking forward to doing so for weeks. I will give this to the writers, the readers, and the kids who love a challenge.
The Tiger’s Wife is about stories, and love and death and war. It centers on the relationship between a woman and her grandfather, and the grandfather’s stories. He tells two stories about his past, one about the deathless man and one about the tiger’s wife. He tells them, despite their supernatural or improbable elements, as truth.
Obreht layers his stories within the woman’s current attempt to understand the circumstances of her grandfather’s death.
Yes, the narrative is something of a puzzle. There are mysteries to be uncovered. I had to read twice to put all of the pieces together. I do not believe that teens will be put off by that, or by the setting: the Balkans at war and recovering from war. The writing is not humorless or unremittingly bleak. It holds moments of great beauty. Teens will thank you for introducing them to an example of the new, great literature of our times.
OBREHT, Téa. The Tiger’s Wife. 352p. Random. Mar. 2011. Tr $25. ISBN 978-0-385-34383-1. LC 2010009612.
Adult/High School–Natalia is a young doctor in a Balkan country recovering from years at war. She is on a journey to deliver vaccinations to an orphanage when she receives word that her grandfather, a celebrated doctor, has died in a remote village. Why did he travel there, lie to his wife and his granddaughter, knowing that he was dying? Trying to understand, Natalia recollects the hours they spent at the zoo when she was younger, sitting in front of the tiger’s cage while he read to her from The Jungle Book, or told her pieces of the two stories central to his life: the story of the deathless man and the story of the tiger’s wife. As the novel progresses, these stories from his past intersect with the present. Obreht’s writing is gorgeous, descriptive, and strong, creating vivid, unforgettable visions of unique settings such as the billowing curtains in the restaurant on a bluff overlooking a river, where Natalia’s grandfather dines with the deathless man while bombs explode in the distance, destruction approaching a place that will not exist by morning. It is up to readers to decide if the author employs magical realism, or presents a world that has lived with war for so long that everyday life has moved beyond the commonplace. The Tiger’s Wife is a meditation on death, love, and war in the modern world that follows Natalia’s determined pursuit of the motives surrounding her grandfather’s last days and the deathless man himself. For mature teen readers, the time spent savoring the writing, the stories, and the intricacies of their connections will be well rewarded.–Angela Carstensen, Convent of the Sacred Heart. New York City
Nathacha Appanah grew up in a traditional Indian family on Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar. As an adult, she emigrated to France and is currently based in Paris. She has published four novels in French, and this is the first of her novels to be published in translation in the United States. (Blue Bay Palace was translated into English and published in the U.K. in 2009.)
The Last Brother is a coming-of-age novel centered around a friendship between two young boys, which also captures a little-known World War II event. What could have been a heavy, tragic story is written with a beautifully light touch.
The following review makes clear its potential appeal to teens. I will just add that while this is a relatively small book, under 200 pages, a paperback original, it accomplishes much within its pages. This is an exciting find, that I can imagine doing well in school and public library collections, especially with a little hand-selling to get the ball rolling.
APPANAH, Nathacha. The Last Brother: A Novel. trans. from French by Geoffrey Strachan. 164p. Graywolf. 2011. Tr $18. ISBN 978-1-55597-575-3. LC 2010937513.
Adult/High School–In 1945, on the island of Mauritius, eight-year-old Raj survives the flash flood that claims the lives of his two brothers. Grief-stricken, his family moves from their camp by the sugar plantation to the center of the island where his brutally abusive father has found work as a prison guard. While delivering lunch to his father, Raj observes a fair-haired European boy in the prison yard. David is one of 200 European Jews who were detained on Mauritius after the British denied them entry to Palestine. Sickly and orphaned, David forms a brotherly bond with Raj. In the chaos of a severe cyclone, Raj frees him from the prison and the two boys make a desperately naïve, doomed attempt to escape the authorities. Appanah uses language as rich and beautiful as the jungles of her native Mauritius to tell a small but powerful story of youthful innocence and hope glimmering amid the incomprehensible grief, loss, and violence of World War II. The events of Raj’s youth, told as a reflection from later in his life, unfold with the dreamy quality of distant memories until they are punctuated by vivid descriptions, such as finding the walking stick of his perished brother, that splinter the imagination. This unforgettable and heartbreaking story combines enough risky misadventure and mystery to appeal to teens, who will also appreciate its easy fablelike narrative. It is a worthy addition to any collection of World War II literature.–John Sexton, formerly of Westchester Library System, NY
Wessel Ebersohn writes thrillers that illuminate the society and culture of South Africa. The October Killings is his first book based in the new, post-apartheid South Africa.
The October Killings also marks the first appearance of character Abigail Bukula, who will be central to a continuing series of novels. Her partner in this novel, Yudel Gordon, prison psychologist, was the principal character in a series of previous novels, beginning with A Lonely Place to Die (Pantheon, 1979).
While this is an adult thriller with adult characters, its teen appeal lies in its global setting and the fact that the book’s events originate in Abigail’s teen years.
EBERSOHN, Wessel. The October Killings: A Novel. 336p. Minotaur. 2011. Tr $24.99. ISBN 978-0-312-65595-2. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Wessel Ebersohn wrote political fiction in South Africa in the 1980s that was frequently banned by the government and eventually lead to a self-imposed exile. He has returned to writing with The October Killings, a sharp and provocative mystery set in the modern post-Apartheid era. Abigail Bukula heads the gender desk of the South African Department of Justice. With an impressive title but little autonomy, she finds that the daily bureaucratic frustrations are approaching the breaking point. Then Leon Lourens comes to her in desperation. She last saw him 20 years ago when they were teenagers and she was living with her parents, African National Congress activists. He was a member of a team of white soldiers sent to invade her home. When things went horribly wrong, Leon defied orders and saved her life. Now the soldiers making up that team are being murdered one-by-one in identical fashion each year on the anniversary of the raid. Leon is one of only two left alive, with the target date just five days away. Complex ideas and characters are made relatable through a taught and suspenseful plot. Teens will be absorbed by the underlying message that there are no easy answers to many political dilemmas, even when the motive is simply to do the right thing. No previous knowledge of South Africa is necessary to appreciate the drama, but readers may be inspired to move on to a deeper exploration of its past and present through the writings of J.M. Coetzee.–Priscille Dando, Robert E. Lee high School, Fairfax County, VA
Lipstick in Afghanistan by Roberta Gately joins a growing number of books set in Afghanistan, both fiction and nonfiction.
While I would not compare Lipstick in Afghanistan to The Kite Runner or A Thousand Splendid Suns, I do believe that the same readers might enjoy it. This is a lighter treatment of the troubles in Afghanistan, from the perspective of an American. For teens who are interested in the culture, but shy away from the tragedy in Hosseini’s books, this is a good choice. It could also provide a gateway to those books. Born under a Million Shadows by Andrea Busfield (Holt, 2010) is another recommended recent novel set in Kabul, from the perspective of a young Afghan boy.
Among nonfiction, the subject matter brings to mind Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez (Random House, 2007). And Rodriguez’s first novel is coming out later this month, titled A Cup of Friendship (Ballantine). It takes place in a Kabul coffee house.
I am also looking forward to reading The Dressmaker of Khair Khana: Five Sisters, One Remarkable Family, and the Woman Who Risked Everything to Keep Them Safe by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, a nonfiction title being published by Harper in March which also takes place in Taliban-era Kabul.
The most popular nonfiction book on Afghanistan in my library is My Forbidden Face: Growing Up Under the Taliban by Latifah (Hyperion, 2001). This is a memoir written by a girl who was 16 when the Taliban took over Kabul. (She uses the name Latifah in order to maintain anonymity.) It makes a great booktalk, and is not intimidating in length.
GATELY, Roberta. Lipstick in Afghanistan. 284p. Gallery. 2010. Tr $15. ISBN 978-1-4391-9138-5. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Danger permeates this enthralling coming-of-age novel about recent nursing-school graduate Elsa Murphy, who is spending a year in Afghanistan, providing medical services to amputees and starving children. At times, she seems naïve, offering easy solutions to the Afghans she meets. For example, she offers the gift of lipstick to Parween, a widow whose husband was killed by the Taliban. Readers might question why lipstick makes a difference to a woman who isn’t allowed to wear it in public; however, it marks the beginning of Parween’s self-actualization. When one overlooks the vague, confusing quality of some of the novel’s ideas, there is much to appreciate here. After all, who doesn’t admire a woman who wears bold red lipstick while dodging bullets and draining shrapnel wounds? Teens will applaud the idea that a woman can be good, brave and beautiful–all at once. Lipstick serves as a tangible symbol of female strength and friendship. Parween is a strong character in her own right, and her friendship with Elsa seems genuine, so readers will forgive the novel’s oversimplified ideas about cross-cultural exchange. This novel offers a rare glimpse of Afghanistan from a fresh perspective. The book is based on the author’s own experiences as a nurse there, and the sights and smells she describes feel utterly real. Students will learn a great deal about the country’s culture and history by reading this page-turner.– Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard H.S. Early College, Queens, NY
Secret Daughter, a debut novel, has slowly but steadily become an international hit this year. It landed at #2 on the Amazon Best Books of 2010 Customer Favorites list, second only to Stieg Larsson’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.
Gowda is Canadian, where her novel is especially popular. This November article tells the story of its success, largely attributed to word of mouth by her readers.
GOWDA, Shilpi Somaya. Secret Daughter. 352p. Morrow. 2010. Tr $23.99. ISBN 978-0-06-192231-2. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School–Kavita, a young married woman in India, is just a teenager when she gives birth to her second baby girl. Tradition is powerful in her rural town, where sons are valued and daughters are unwanted. Kavita is terrified that this child will be killed like her older sister, so she smuggles her to an orphanage. Despite the subsequent birth of a beloved son, Kavita still yearns to know the fate of her lost daughter. Readers are able to follow the story of the daughter, Asha, who is adopted by a couple in America. Her adoptive father was born and raised in India, although her mother is solidly American. As Asha grows into her teen years, she becomes increasingly curious about her heritage and travels to India to stay with her father’s large, extended family. Teens will surely feel Kavita’s pain as she loses her daughters because of a practice that is not completely outdated in even today. Throughout the book, Kavita continues to visit the orphanage, gazing at each little girl to see if she can find her own child. Asha’s journey of self-discovery should also appeal to many teens, particularly those who were adopted as babies in faraway countries. Readers will discover, along with Asha, that families are forged in many ways–through blood, through acquired kinship, and perhaps most significantly, through persevering love.–Diane Colson, New Port Richey Library, FL
Angela Carstensen is Head Librarian and an Upper School Librarian at Convent of the Sacred Heart in New York City. Angela served on the Alex Awards committee for four years, chairing the 2008 committee, and chaired the first YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult committee in 2009. Recently, she edited Outstanding Books for the College Bound: Titles and Programs for a New Generation (ALA Editions, 2011). Contact her via Twitter @AngeReads.
