Say You’re One of Them: about Africa’s Children

Submitted by Hunter Xu on Sunday, 11 October 2009No Comment

Author: Uwem Akpan
‘Say You’re One of Them’ Review:
Say You’re One of Them is a book of five stories, it isn’t a fast read, Father Uwem writes with immaculate sensitivity while painting a picture of the shockingly brutal conditions in which families live in Africa. Definitely heavy subject matter, but amazingly skilfully done.

‘Say You’re One of Them’ Summary:
As the story begins, Jigana’s family is intact, if barely, crammed inside their makeshift shanty, hoping for a lavish holiday meal. By the end, even this provisional community dissolves, a portrait in microcosm of the way a whole culture collapses. Hand-wringing journalists have described the misery of Africa’s urban poor, but Akpan also captures the humor and fleeting grace that make the degradation infinitely more painful to read about. His youthful protagonists are not the waifs of UNICEF ads or the noble victims of guilt-ridden postcolonial lit. Unlike the unshakably high-minded Valentino Achak Deng of Dave Eggers’ earnest quasi-real novel about Sudanese war orphans, What Is the What, Akpan’s characters are ordinary, flawed, sometimes funny kids who happen to be caught in a nightmare.

You’ll find no relief in the second tale, the masterful ”Fattening for Gabon,” in which a brother and sister wait for their uncle to sell them into slavery. In one of the most disturbing scenes in recent fiction, he strips off his pants and tries to coach his young charges about sex — a skill they will presumably need in their new life. The hallucinatory ”My Parents’ Bedroom” dramatizes the ordeal of Monique, a pretty, pampered 9-year-old girl, as her home is destroyed over two bloody nights during Rwanda’s civil war in the 1990s. ”When they ask you,” her mother tells her, ‘’say you’re one of them, OK?” ”Who?” asks Monique. ”Anybody,” answers her mother. The book should be depressing, but the blazing humanity of the characters and the brilliance of Akpan’s artistry make this one of the year’s most exhilarating reads.

‘Fiction that gives the children of Africa a voice’ is the heart and soul of this book. These are voices that are difficult to listen to from our sheltered lives. This book is for anyone who ever said, "Why didn’t I ever hear about this?" upon discovering an injustice in this world. For me, the most powerful story is the last. I will forever hold the powerful images of a toddler playing in his slain mothers blood. Each story is a work of fiction, but is based on real situations that have transpired. In the Afterword, written by a pastor who knows the author, Uwem Akpan, the writer offers his belief that the publication of these stories is a bold attempt to enlighten readers about children of Africa, which in turn may create a passionate desire to create a safer place for children all over the world.

I recommend ‘Say You’re One of Them’ to every one, You will be a different person after you’ve read this book.

The Book Details: