Africa

Materials from Africa

Cry of the Giraffe

One girl’s harrowing trek from exile and slavery to hope in a new land — all based on a true story. In the early 1980s, thousands of Ethiopian Jews fled the civil unrest, famine and religious persecution of their native land in the hopes of being reunited in Jerusalem, their spiritual homeland, with its promises of a better life. Wuditu and her family risk their lives to make this journey, which leads them to a refugee camp in Sudan, where they are separated. Terrified, 15-year-old Wuditu makes her way back to Ethiopia alone. “Don’t give up, Wuditu! Be strong!” The words of her little sister come to Wuditu in a dream and give her the courage to keep going. Wuditu must find someone to give her food and shelter or she will surely die. Finally Wuditu is offered a solution: working as a servant. However, she quickly realizes that she has become a slave. With nowhere else to go, she stays — until the villagers discover that she is a falasha, a hated Jew. Only her dream of one day being reunited with her family gives her strength — until the arrival of a stranger heralds hope and a new life in Israel. With her graceful long neck, Wuditu is affectionately called “the giraffe.” And like the giraffe who has no voice, she must suffer in silence. Based on real events, Wuditu’s story mirrors the experiences of thousands of Ethiopian Jews.

A Long Walk To Water

Combining simple, economical prose with a profound awareness of the hardships that life sometimes brings to young people, Linda Sue Park has crafted a suspenseful, accessible novel that goes beyond newspaper headlines to illuminate human experience. Includes an afterword from the author and one from Salva Dut. A Long Walk to Water begins as two stories, told in alternating sections, about a girl in Sudan in 2008 and a boy in Sudan in 1985. The girl, Nya, is fetching water from a pond that is two hours’ walk from her home: she makes two trips to the pond every day. The boy, Salva, becomes one of the “lost boys” of Sudan, refugees who cover the African continent on foot as they search for their families and for a safe place to stay. Enduring every hardship from loneliness to attack by armed rebels to contact with killer lions and crocodiles, Salva is a survivor, and his story goes on to intersect with Nya’s in an astonishing and moving way.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 2

A Is For Africa

The author, a member of the Igbo tribe in Nigeria, presents text and her own photographs of twenty-six things, from A to Z, representative of all African peoples.

Cat Mummies

catClearly written text offers an answer to the question of why ancient Egyptians mummified thousands and thousands of cats. An easy-to-understand introduction to ancient Egyptian history. “Extensive research is evident in the many original sources quoted and the lengthy bibliography. . . . Kubinyi’s soft-focus watercolors work well to explain and break up the text.” — School Library Journal

Gorilla Walk

In 1997, Ted and Betsy Lewin trekked into the Impenetrable Forest in Uganda to see mountain gorillas in the wild. This real-life adventure story is the amazing saga of that trip. At moments funny, exhausting, educational, and enlightening, Gorilla Walk is filled with the wonder of nature in general–and of this magnificent animal in particular.Notable Children’s Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council, 2000 Notable Children’s Books (ALA), and Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 2000–selected by Natn’l Science Tchrs Assoc. & Child. Bk Cncl.

The 5,000-Year-Old Puzzle: Solving A Mystery of Ancient Egypt

An account of Dr. George Reisner’s 1925 discovery and excavation of a secret tomb in Giza, Egypt, based on archival documents and records, but told through the fictionalized experiences of a young boy who accompanies his father on the dig.

A Song for Jamela

The summer holidays are here and Jamela is bored as a girl can be! All she can think about is the Afro-Idols TV final, so when she lands a job at Divine Braids hair salon, she can’t believe her eyes when Afro-Idols celebrity Miss Bambi Chaka Chaka arrives at the salon to be coiffed. But while Jamela’s idol dozes and Aunt Beauty designs her starry hairdo, a buzzy fly appears on the scene and threatens to ruin everything.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 5, Issue 3.