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A review by jenbsbooks
Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani
5.0
I don't know that I thought "oh, 5* rating" as I finished this book, but reflecting on it, and seeing that I gave [book:All the Glimmering Stars|123252117] a 5* rating, I felt this needed the same. Both books are similar, set in Africa. Stars in Uganda, Baobab in Nigeria. Both feature radical groups (LRA, Boko Haram) kidnapping children. Forcing the boys to fight, using the girls ("marrying" them off in many cases). Both while fictionalized, feature some real stories, were researched, with interviews etc. In Baobab, the MC, we don't know her exact age (or name) is a teen girl, the only daughter in her family. One whose father allows her to go to school (not common for girls). Through her eyes, we see the world they live in, home life, school life, challenges (rats, when the girls get their period), news from the outside world via 'The Voice on Papa's Radio' ... and then of course, there is the abduction and the life after.
The presentation here was unique, little vignettes. Similar to some of the books in verse that I've read (Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai) with a title/header, then some text. Here, not as much white space as the "poetry" set up, but still a similar feel. Some chapters were short. One (Almost One Month. News of our exam results will likely come soon) was one sentence. In a way, it feels a little like a journal, but no dates given, more a like a prompt/topic and then a little writing about it. These are the "chapters" but there are no chronological chapters listed. Without manually counting them up, I'm not sure how many there were. LOTS! I'm a multi-format gal ... getting my books in audio/Kindle and physical. This type of organization makes it difficult to find the same spot across formats.
These little vignettes are short. After the initial "um, what IS this?" it's easy to see how each one moves the story along (the presentation is more obvious in text, in audio it rolls together more, you don't realize how much white space there is on the printed page). The "voice" feels very authentic, like we are hearing this directly from a young Nigerian girl. The life in the first half of the book is hard enough, in a country without all the advantages we have here, then the horrors of the extremist group. Nothing is over-the-top in its description, which perhaps makes the impact all the more powerful. There is rape, forced marriage, murder.
Placed a few places between the vignette chapters, are lines from Robert Browning's poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" ... it would be a little confusing in audio, because there would be no transition or header to set it apart, but it definitely is a different writing feel (but the credit wouldn't come until the end. In audio ... put the credit at the beginning for the listener!). In print, it's easily distinguishable, set apart in italics.
The book is 330 pages, after the main story concludes, there is an Afterword: The Chosen Generation (starting on page 293) and here, it switches to a non-fiction presentation from Viviana Mazza with some facts on the time, the Chibok girls, how she and the author got together and researched/interviewed. Lots of facts. I really appreciated this set-up. The fictionalized account, then a portion of non-fiction telling us the background and what was real.
I really like the cover image, the baobab tree, with the face looking up. The baobab tree did run throughout the book.
Is the main character's name Ya Ta? Or is that just "my daughter" and we don't actually know her name? It's interesting because names are important. Pastor Moses says that a child's name must be chosen carefully, that it plays a large role in what a child will become. Thus he named his son Success. Another child is named Divine. The name issue comes up again, when they are forced to change and adopt good Muslim names. Is a forced conversion to a religion not an irony?? This is not Islam.
This is YA, but this would be a great book club selection. It would provide lots to talk about (although no discussion questions were included with the book - I love when there are!) This is a book that I am likely to recommend, and would love to talk about with others who have read it. Coming across this book was random, I picked it up at a library sale for my Little Free Library. I saw it had high reviews, so I figured I'd read it first. But now ... I think I want to keep it for my personal shelf, even though I also want to share it!
The presentation here was unique, little vignettes. Similar to some of the books in verse that I've read (Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai) with a title/header, then some text. Here, not as much white space as the "poetry" set up, but still a similar feel. Some chapters were short. One (Almost One Month. News of our exam results will likely come soon) was one sentence. In a way, it feels a little like a journal, but no dates given, more a like a prompt/topic and then a little writing about it. These are the "chapters" but there are no chronological chapters listed. Without manually counting them up, I'm not sure how many there were. LOTS! I'm a multi-format gal ... getting my books in audio/Kindle and physical. This type of organization makes it difficult to find the same spot across formats.
These little vignettes are short. After the initial "um, what IS this?" it's easy to see how each one moves the story along (the presentation is more obvious in text, in audio it rolls together more, you don't realize how much white space there is on the printed page). The "voice" feels very authentic, like we are hearing this directly from a young Nigerian girl. The life in the first half of the book is hard enough, in a country without all the advantages we have here, then the horrors of the extremist group. Nothing is over-the-top in its description, which perhaps makes the impact all the more powerful. There is rape, forced marriage, murder.
Placed a few places between the vignette chapters, are lines from Robert Browning's poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin" ... it would be a little confusing in audio, because there would be no transition or header to set it apart, but it definitely is a different writing feel (but the credit wouldn't come until the end. In audio ... put the credit at the beginning for the listener!). In print, it's easily distinguishable, set apart in italics.
The book is 330 pages, after the main story concludes, there is an Afterword: The Chosen Generation (starting on page 293) and here, it switches to a non-fiction presentation from Viviana Mazza with some facts on the time, the Chibok girls, how she and the author got together and researched/interviewed. Lots of facts. I really appreciated this set-up. The fictionalized account, then a portion of non-fiction telling us the background and what was real.
I really like the cover image, the baobab tree, with the face looking up. The baobab tree did run throughout the book.
Is the main character's name Ya Ta? Or is that just "my daughter" and we don't actually know her name? It's interesting because names are important. Pastor Moses says that a child's name must be chosen carefully, that it plays a large role in what a child will become. Thus he named his son Success. Another child is named Divine. The name issue comes up again, when they are forced to change and adopt good Muslim names. Is a forced conversion to a religion not an irony?? This is not Islam.
This is YA, but this would be a great book club selection. It would provide lots to talk about (although no discussion questions were included with the book - I love when there are!) This is a book that I am likely to recommend, and would love to talk about with others who have read it. Coming across this book was random, I picked it up at a library sale for my Little Free Library. I saw it had high reviews, so I figured I'd read it first. But now ... I think I want to keep it for my personal shelf, even though I also want to share it!