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A review by bookishblond
Say You're One of Them by Uwem Akpan
2.0
Uwen Akpan has a very important message he wants to share with you, but he does not have the skills to communicate them. This is unfortunate; the perspective of the child in modern Africa is one that has not been explored thoroughly enough.
Each of these short stories is set in a different country in modern-day Africa and is narrated by a child (two of the "stories" are more like novellas at over a hundred pages each). Akpan tackles issues such as child prostitution, slum life, slavery, race relations, and religion, but there is a striking lack of empathy and emotion in the writing that takes away from the stories. The biggest problem with this collection is the slang dialect and phonetic spelling which makes the stories absolutely unreadable at times.
If you want to read about Africa, skip this one and pick up some Chinua Achebe instead.
Each of these short stories is set in a different country in modern-day Africa and is narrated by a child (two of the "stories" are more like novellas at over a hundred pages each). Akpan tackles issues such as child prostitution, slum life, slavery, race relations, and religion, but there is a striking lack of empathy and emotion in the writing that takes away from the stories. The biggest problem with this collection is the slang dialect and phonetic spelling which makes the stories absolutely unreadable at times.
If you want to read about Africa, skip this one and pick up some Chinua Achebe instead.