Say You're One of Them

 After reading each story in this book all I could think was thank God I live in America. Some would say this is a small minded, uncultured point of view. To those people I say; perhaps you need to educate yourself about the perils of living in some of the other countries in our world, and possibly you need to survey your surroundings and be grateful for the abundance, freedoms, rights, and opportunities we have in this country. That's not to say that the United States is perfect, it is far from it. But we, who live in this country, are blessed beyond measure compared to others around the world, and lest we be arrogant enough to forget it Uwen Akpan has written a book that will strikingly remind you of it. 

This wasn't the easiest book to read, and not just because of the heartbreak. The prose was often choppy, and the dialects used can be hard to follow unless you are reading carefully. It is not a book that you can speed through -- nor would you want to. I've heard people say they can't put this book down once they started, but I did not feel the same way. Though I wanted to know what ultimately happened to each child, it was not in a form of eagerness and excitement. It was because I felt like I should know what happened to each child, as they are representations of many, many human beings out there.

Whether they be facing the dark realities of religious intolerance, child trafficking, prostitution, or genocide, each child in these stories reminds us of the pure place from whence we all came. The dearness and innocence is prevalent throughout this book, and such an amazing eye opener. What incredibly different experiences human beings can have. Even if living in the same country, but especially living a world apart. What a fantastic reminder to not only open your heart to help with what's important (do we really need another building in someone's name when there are children being traded as sex objects?), and to be utterly grateful for the amazing blessings in our lives. If you are reading this on your computer, you are far and away more blessed than 80% (get that, eighty percent) of the world's population. So whether or not I think you'll love this book is irrelevant. Whether or not I think you should read this book is definite. You should. When was the last time each of us volunteered, donated, or reached out on a regular basis? These are important questions to ask oneself, and these are questions you will not be able to ignore after reading this book. 
Five Coconuts

xo,
The Coconut Librarian

(poverty data taken from www.globalissues.org)

Comments

[Nadia]

This is crazy - I just posted a review of this book on my blog. Anyhow, I liked your post and I agree with you that this book should be read. It is a powerful book that raises awareness of the issues that these African children face or have faced on a daily basis. Great post!

[Lisa]

I think that when I read this, I'm going to need to read it a story at a time. It just feels like something that will need time to recover from.

[tessa]

Well said. I look forward to reading this.