Welcome to Litsy!

What happens when vengefulness begets exposure to the vilest depths of human nature?

This was a gut-punch of a #YA book! Harrowing, shockingly violent account of the worst atrocities committed by humans against each other. We follow 11 year-old Kofi‘s life in his Asante village (now Ghana) during 1860. A violent but mutual competition between Upper and Lower Kwanta leads to unspeakable horrors when something goes terribly wrong. Great audio! 4⭐️s

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).

Great book

Historical 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. 🤷‍♀️

Wow! 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.

Day 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.

It was just ok. It wasn‘t a book that I was quick to pick up.