Sam is orphaned through AIDS and has to leave the city in Malawi to live with his aunt and family in a poor rural community.

Review: This is a sensitive and compelling book on so many levels. Sam's old city life is very western - he has a computer which he can use competently, is well read, has had loving parents but has lost both in turn to AIDS. His aunt takes him in but he must learn to cope with cousins of whom he is extremely wary and with the most basic of needs unmet. He befriends a man at the hospital as this enables him to use the computer there, but he gets into trouble when the computer goes missing. Sam feels very wronged and alone as a result of his parents' death and has to learn to understand his relations and their ways of living. The warmth and humanity that comes from his aunt in particular helps him to reassess his own values and learn to cope with this new lifestyle.

This is an extremely affecting look at the continuing legacy of AIDS in countries like Malawi and should appeal to all aged 12+ as well as making a useful introduction for this age group to a subject we are forgetting in the west.

2008-09-28