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Say You're One of Them
Say You're One of Them | Uwem Akpan
Uwem Akpan's stunning stories humanize the perils of poverty and violence so piercingly that few readers will feel they've ever encountered Africa so immediately. The eight-year-old narrator of "An Ex-Mas Feast" needs only enough money to buy books and pay fees in order to attend school. Even when his twelve-year-old sister takes to the streets to raise these meager funds, his dream can't be granted. Food comes first. His family lives in a street shanty in Nairobi, Kenya, but their way of both loving and taking advantage of each other strikes a universal chord. In the second of his stories published in a New Yorker special fiction issue, Akpan takes us far beyond what we thought we knew about the tribal conflict in Rwanda. The story is told by a young girl, who, with her little brother, witnesses the worst possible scenario between parents. They are asked to do the previously unimaginable in order to protect their children. This singular collection will also take the reader inside Nigeria, Benin, and Ethiopia, revealing in beautiful prose the harsh consequences for children of life in Africa. Akpan's voice is a literary miracle, rendering lives of almost unimaginable deprivation and terror into stories that are nothing short of transcendent. Bonus ebook content: includes an interview with "The New Yorker," additional photos of the author, discussion questions and topics, and a link to a music download.
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Ruthiella
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Pickpick

Two novellas and three short stories, each set in a different African country; all are devastating and heartbreaking. 💔 Most feature children. This is fiction, but we know it is rooted in truth: exploitation, religious violence, ethnic conflict, poverty, despair.

#The52BookClub24 Sticker on cover (Oprah)
#Pop24 Title complete sentence
#TBRtarot (January) YOU in title
#Roll100 February

rockpools That sounds like (!) a very hard read 💔 (edited) 9mo
Ruthiella @rockpools It was. 💔 9mo
Librarybelle It sounds like a hard read but a necessary read. I‘ve not read it, but you‘re probably right that the fiction is rooted in what is happening in reality. 9mo
See All 6 Comments
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 9mo
Ruthiella @Librarybelle I was kind of dreading reading it, in fact. 9mo
Ruthiella @TheAromaofBooks Thanks!😊 9mo
83 likes1 stack add6 comments
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JGadz11

This collection is hard to review. Two of the five stories are amazing; the other three are some of the worst writing I‘ve read in years. The two stories worth reading: An Ex-Mas Feast, and Say You‘re One of Them. The rest is beyond a pan; I was angry I wasted my time with the other stories, which are much longer, and very poorly written.

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candority
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Bailedbailed

I bailed on my #DoubleSpin pick for October. I just wasn‘t feeling it 🤷‍♀️ @TheAromaofBooks

LeafingThroughLife I‘ve started this one a couple times and still haven‘t managed to finish it. 3y
candority @LeafingThroughLife That‘s too bad. Will you give it another go? I put my copy in a Little Free Diverse Library in my neighbourhood. 3y
TheAromaofBooks Sometimes a book just isn't the right match!! 3y
74 likes3 comments
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Julsmarshall
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Pickpick

Heartbreaking. Powerful, good on #audio This collection of short story was a hard listen but I‘m so glad I did. His voice needs to be heard in the world. #BookspinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!! 3y
56 likes2 stack adds1 comment
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Cosmos_Moon_River
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Oh so many books have made me cry! The tagged is a collection of short and short-ish stories that all had me bawling. Also, for 2020 reads, Girls at war and other stories by Chinua Achebe and So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo are a couple others I can think of.

Thanks for the tag @Cuilin
#FridayFeelings

Who else wants to share?

Cuilin Great list. 📚 Thanks for playing. 4y
33 likes1 comment
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Cosmos_Moon_River
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1. When I was 3-4 I lived on the farm where my mom, grandfather, great-grandmother & greats back to my first bohemian ancestors to America lived. My cousin & I would play in the barn. 1 day, 2 boys yelled at us to get out of their barn. This was shortly after my grandfather & his brother died. Later in life I told my mom & she said there would have been no boys around in that area. I know it was them.
2. My healthy, happy family

#ThankfulThursday

Texreader What a great question for the fall! And I love your answer! 4y
Cosmos_Moon_River @Texreader I like to think they were protecting us from something. 4y
Eggs Thanks for the tag 🤗🤗 4y
40 likes3 comments
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Tove_Reads
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Books, where would I be without them? These are to be read next. Diverse and interesting!

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Cosmos_Moon_River
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Pickpick

Intense book! Beautiful & horrific stories of religious conflict, war, disease & impacts on personal levels. This book contains 5 stories — 3 short & 2 longer heart wrenching stories that feel like they could be real & surely pieces taken from personal accounts. Not the easiest read, but amazing. Finally finished my 1st #bookspin for February after lots of reading & writing for work. Luckily my #doublespin is lighter & we have leap day tomorrow!

Cosmos_Moon_River So I finished the last two stories right before bed last night and did not leave me with great images for falling asleep 😔 @TheAromaofBooks (edited) 5y
9 likes1 comment
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S3V3N
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Pickpick

Loved the stories.

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Mdonald
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Mehso-so

Last book of 2018 was far from uplifting. It‘s time to start my 2019 #LitsyAtoZ!

BookishMarginalia 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 6y
12 likes1 comment
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ElectricKatyLand
Pickpick

Hard to read but powerful, gripping stories about families, community ties, and conflict. The three stories are each devastating, so read when your mind is right.

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GatheringBooks
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#Aprella Day 10: Piercing narratives of poverty and violence in Africa make for a #CruelWorld indeed. A #BigBadWolf book find.

emilyhaldi Sounds tough 💔 7y
Mdargusch It must be another heartbreaking read. 7y
Reviewsbylola I think I have this on my TBR. 💔 7y
78 likes3 comments
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Isierranichole
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Great way to end the night 🙌🏽

Tamra 👏🏾👏🏾 7y
Megabooks Welcome to Litsy! Great book choice! 7y
WarpedSweetness Welcome to Litsy! 7y
DivaDiane Welcome to Litsy! 7y
LA_Mead Welcome to Litsy! 7y
29 likes5 comments
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huntersmom1977
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Pickpick

A depressive but necessary read. Very Graphic 3/5

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CAGirlReading
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Pickpick

A collection of stories about the different ways in which conflict impacts children. One box of tissues is definitely not enough...

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ramyasbookshelf
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Pickpick

This book was an exceptionally difficult read. Just 5 short stories.. But 5 different stories told from the view points of different children. Children that are forced to encounter situations that are way beyond normalcy. Painful book but a must read!

shawnmooney Wow. 8y
BookishFeminist Even more interested in reading this after your review :) 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa That sounds really really good! 8y
Riveted_Reader_Melissa Guess what I found at the Salvation Army (thrift store) today? Yes! This book! 8y
ramyasbookshelf @Riveted_Reader_Melissa what a great find! I hope you found a box of tissues as well :) 8y
18 likes1 stack add5 comments
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ramyasbookshelf
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I just finished the second story in this book and my heart aches. Child trafficking, though a difficult subject, has always been an abstract term for me. This second story however, made it real. I don't think I can sleep tonight.

DitrieMarieBowie Human trafficking is awful. 😢 9y
17 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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ramyasbookshelf
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'We knew how to pretend we were strangers - just a street kid and a prostitute talking' - a depressing look at the street life in Nairobi. A heart wrenching first story in this collection.

10 likes1 stack add
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ramyasbookshelf
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The essential Africa map before I begin this much raved about collection of stories by Uwem Akpan. Any of you read it already?

16 likes4 stack adds