I totally forgot about the meet on Monday- got in late and made dinner and then suddenly realised at about 10pm! I had this book as an audible this month for the first time as I'm struggling with my eyes - and was sort of glad I did as I think the narrator's accent really added to the feeling of this book (and others had said that the very different style of writing took a bit of getting used to). I feel very sure that, whatever format people had this in, most would have found it to be a very powerful read.
My first thoughts were that I doubt that many 'First World' 14yr olds could have shown the strength, resilience, bravery, independence, compassion and general life skills that Adunni demonstrated throughout this story! Our children have relatively privileged lives and are protected from much of life's dark underbelly and would probably never face one of the situations Adunni faced...let alone all of them! The book highlighted many awful things that are still happening in countries like Nigeria today but also showed that the human spirit and hope is a powerful thing. It was a bit of a 'David and Goliath' sort of scenario with the underdog being triumphant...but it didn't glamorise it in any way - it was raw, it was a hard read in parts and a stark reminder of the fact that life is effectively a lottery of geography and luck....and not everyone is lucky!
I have always tried to instil in my kids how lucky they are to have their right to an education and to be grateful for it as not all children get that and have to go to extreme lengths just to access even the most basic schooling....especially girls - it's something many children take for granted and regularly resent these days. Adunni's grit and determination to secure herself an education at whatever cost to herself was humbling - and to have had that awareness at such a young age - I felt like her mum had taught her some amazing life lessons before she died and wonder what Adunni might have achieved if her mum had still been alive.
Adunni's self awareness of the world and the people around her was also humbling - to have been treated so badly by so many people in her life yet to still see some good in them and show concern and compassion even in adversity. She had an ability to get through the exterior to people's insides and find chinks of goodness even in the most horrid people (apart from Big Daddy....he was just awful full stop!) With such an amazing outlook on life and her place in it - I feel sure that Adunni will go on to achieve wonderful things and now I need to find this second book that has been mentioned.
There's so much more that can be said about this book but I won't go on. What a brilliant piece of writing - a solid 9/10 FLOAT for me and am off to find part 2
