Review: Say You Are on of Them

I saw this review on Mashada blogs, and was compelled to republish it. I have read a few horrid reviews about the book, but mostly good ones. Dorcas found Akpan's anthology powerful. She says:

I was enslaved to Akpan’s expertise in building unforgettable characters. No sooner had I put the book down in emotional exhaustion than I realized that his characters have etched themselves onto my mind and were present in every waking thought. I picked it up again in a love-hate relationship that only comes with special books. These juvenile survivors became part of me. I found myself willing them to run faster to escape death. I shrunk deeper into my pillows as an arm reached to grab them. I held my breath and clamped my lips, sending them the willpower to remain quiet as the enemy prowled. I closed my eyes to protect these children from what they were about to witness. I became a silent witness to their afflictions.

Do send in your book reviews. I will accept them gladly.

Homeland by George Obama: A Review

The main reason to read a book by a man named Obama who is not the president of the United States is simple: to understand better the Obama who is president. With this as a test, does a new memoir from a Kenyan half brother to our very own Barack Obama - an African resident of Nairobi who shares our president's surname and his long-deceased father but not his mother - shed any light on President Obama as a leader?

More from G. Pascal Zachary

Deconstructing and Reconstructing Gender

When the Jamaican reggae maestro, Jimmy Cliff sung “Many Rivers to Cross” in far-flung Jamaica in 1972, the philosophical thread was certainly universal binding all struggling people who may or may not have envisioned the connection. But as one decodes the encrypted archeological relics of the living legend and the Noble Peace Laureate, Wangari Maathai , in her memoir: “Unbowed,” there is no doubt that she has wandered across many rivers—the pain, the frustration, the persecution and the humiliations finally gave way to the authentic and infectious smile on the back page of her book. 

A review on Wangari Maathai's Unbowed. 

"From Jhelum To Tana": A Search for Identity

On a personal journey to find her history and identity, angered by the lack of recognition given to Indians in Kenya's fight for independence, and inspired by a portrait of her great-grandfather, it took Neera Kapur-Dromson five years to write From Jhelum to Tana.

A fourth-generation Kenyan of Indian origin, Neera Kapur-Dromson was born in Nairobi, where she grew up. At the feet of gurus in India, she studied the art of Indian classical dance. She continues to perform Odissi, a style of dance from Orissa , and regularly writes articles on socio-cultural subjects; From Jhelum to Tana is her first book.

Read more.

The Jambula Tree

As East African journalists and editors craft hate pieces against local homosexuals, half a world away, an East African woman has received an award for a brave coming of age story on just this topic. The Caine Prize for African Writing was awarded to Ugandan Arac de Nyeko for a compelling Bildungsroman on the lives of two Ugandan girls as told in a letter from Anyango to the long lost Sanyu, exiled to far-off London by her parents.

Read here from Dorothy Adhiambo as she writes a review on her award tale.

The Grass is Singing

Last week, Doris Lessing won the Nobel Prize for literature.

"The Grass is Singing" is a psychological and social analysis on race relations in the old Zimbabwe, and an exploration of the dichotomy of culture and nature.

Read here as Annette Keino writes a review on her book, the Grass is Singing."

Purple Hibiscus

The first time I read Chimamanda Adichie's Purple Hibiscus, I could not put it down. I finished it up in one sitting. The novel, as seen through the eyes of 15yr old Kambili, addresses many social issues relevant to many African societies. It also features the obligatory love interest. A happy family is thrown into turmoil by changes within its walls, and by the strife following a military a coup in Nigeria.

Read Nekessa Opoti's review here.