The Door of No Return | 
Visited a library book sale this week, and picked up a book that‘s been on my TBR list (tagged), and a favorite to put in a Little Free Library (The Days of Rondo).
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Visited a library book sale this week, and picked up a book that‘s been on my TBR list (tagged), and a favorite to put in a Little Free Library (The Days of Rondo).
pickHistorical fiction in verse, set in 1860 in the Asante kingdom (now Ghana), first in a trilogy. The main character is Kofi, an 11-year-old with an affinity for water & swimming. We get to know his daily life before he‘s captured by slavers. Author Kwame Alexander uses poetry & metaphor to distill ugly realities—shocking violence, rape, slavery—in a way that‘s manageable for middle grade readers. Excellent audio narration by Kobna Holbrook-Smith.
When I finished this book, I wondered about the target audience. The MC is 11 & difficult subjects are included (torture, revenge killing, rape, slavery). It‘s shelved in Children‘s at my library (the Teen section is roughly considered to be for age 12-17); the publisher Little Brown has it in their children‘s category, Kirkus says 10-18, Commonsense Media says 12+. And then I found this NPR article that conflates the two categories. 🤷♀️
pickWow! Another MG read that completely blew me away.
This book written in verse was heartbreaking, educational, thought provoking, and one of my best reads this year.
Kwame Alexander has written a book that addresses the slave trade in a way that young readers can understand; it's Roots for younger generations.
pickDay 7: #FabulousFebruaryReadathon @Andrew65
#Pantone2023 @Clwojick
This was a stunning novel-in-verse based on the Asante people in West Africa, (now known as Ghana) and their inimitable oral traditions. Beautiful HF.
so-soIt was just ok. It wasn‘t a book that I was quick to pick up.
