Say You're One of Them - Dark Publications

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Customer Reviews: Read 19 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Let's Take Care of Our Children June 6, 2008
27 out of 27 found this review helpful

Say You're One of Them is a powerful collection of short stories. Told from the perspective of young children, the collection takes us into the brutality of the childrens' lives in Africa. Each story is a slow awakening to unbelievable horrors for both the child and the reader. The first story, An Ex-Mas feast, looks at a poverty-striken family that must rely on their twelve year old daughter's income to survive. She has to prostitute herself for food and money but she is trying to earn enough money so her younger brother can go to school. The children in "Fattening for Gabon" are being prepared for sale into slavery by their uncle. In "What Language Is That?" two little Ethiopian girls are best friends until their parents suddenly say they cannot speak to each other anymore because one is Muslim and the other is Christian. In "Luxurious Hearses", a Nigerian boy from the north is trying to escape to relatives in the south on a bus filled with the same religious animosity that he hopes to escape. The final story, "My Parent's Bedroom", describes the violence between the Rwandan Hutus and Tutsis as seen through the eyes of a young girl who has mixed parentage.

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. After laying down this book, I know I am one of those affected people, and I thank Pastor Akpan for this powerful lesson.

5 out of 5 stars

Art In The Horrific Details July 4, 2008
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Stories of abused and battered children in Africa are legion, but few cut as close to the bone as this collection by Uwem Akpan. His five tales, two of which are novella length, are told with the uninhibited, truth-filled voices of the children involved. Each one takes place in a different country but the theme is universal: the biggest challenge faced by children in Africa is staying alive.

Akpan, a Jesuit priest with an MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan, piles on details available only to one intimately familiar with the lives described. Be forewarned: some of those details are gruesome to the point of causing distress, which I am sure was his intent. The imagery can range from the droll, like the description of the motorbike loaded with five people, various fruits and vegetables, a rooster and five rolls of toilet paper in "Fattening for Gabon," to the most horrific sight a child can see, a parental bloodbath, in "My Parents' Bedroom." This story ends the book and is the source of the title "Say you're one of them," the command given by a desperate Rwandan Tutsi mother to her Hutu-fathered child as machete-wielding killers approach.

Various dialects are used masterfully to both reveal characters and set scenes. The jargon, slang, and foreign phrases may be off-putting to some readers, but little meaning is lost when the dialogue is read in full context. Quite frankly, the only time many readers can bear to imagine events like those in the book is when they take place on foreign shores. We can be sickened and outraged by horrors on another continent; the same happenings across the street from where we live would paralyze us with fright. Fortunately, Akpan's familiarity with African poetry infuses much of the writing, giving the book a lyrical tone that keeps the more violent passages from slipping into slasher-movie territory.

As a person who has photographed and written about Africa extensively, I must confess I was not shocked by Akpan's stories. Unfortunately, tales like them are all too familiar to me. I was deeply moved by his dramatic intensity, however, and highly appreciative of his ability to put the reader inside the children's lives.

Dave Donelson, author of Heart of Diamonds: A Novel of Scandal, Love and Death in the Congo

5 out of 5 stars

Expertly woven tales about realities far removed from those faced by our children in the West June 8, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful

Unless one has encountered circumstances similar to those outlined in the stories, it is hard to reconcile the fact that this is a daily occurrence for millions of children. For a debut author, quite simply, Uwem Akpan has woven remarkable tales. For whatever reason, I chose to read the last story, My Parents Bedroom, first. Without a doubt, this powerful story is the best in the collection. The remaining stories hovered around a 7.5/8 out of ten but never took me to the gripping heights of My Parents Bedroom. I am somewhat shocked that this book wasnt given the stamp of approval by more magazines/newspapers and well-known authors. It is a gem of a collection and I hope it garners more publicity because the author truly deserves this.

5 out of 5 stars

This book commands you to think.... June 10, 2008
7 out of 8 found this review helpful

Say You're One of Them, by Uwem Akpan, forced me to think... outside of my country's borders; outside of what political propaganda trickles down through the media; outside of my own reality. It wasn't unusual for me to dread turning a page to see what lay ahead, yet I was compelled to turn the pages... to see what lay ahead. This book left me wanting to know more about the children of Africa; wanting to know more about how political strife and brutal violence break these children without discretion or mercy; wanting to know more about the struggle to survive amidst differing religions, from the threat of religious fanatics, to native religious practices, to religious intolerance and it's affect on families of mixed faith, all living in the same neighborhood. I'm not much of a fiction reader, but I can honestly say I didn't want this book to end. Author Uwem Akpan has given a voice to the neglected children of Africa. May God's favor continue to light his path.

5 out of 5 stars

An amazing collection June 12, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful

Uwem Akpan has an unusually privileged perspective: having grown up in Nigeria and traveled around Africa, he knows the depths of that continent's poverty. But Akpan's post-secondary education has been especially privileged, since he has earned various degrees at several US universities.

This perspective allows Akpan to convey an unknown reality to us readers in a powerful, authentic voice that reaches well beyond the surface of our cozy lives. Akpan is first and last a man of hope, a hope fueled solely by his mature and profound faith. His stories have the same Catholic 'punch' as those of Flannery O'Connor, because he has the same honest, open-eyed faith she relied upon. His artistry of hope amidst misery is a great gift to literature, and to each of his readers.

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