Take a photo of a barcode or cover
njlanzetta 's review for:
We Need New Names
by NoViolet Bulawayo
We Need New Names tells the story of Darling, a ten year old girl living in Zimbabwe. This reads as more of a collection of short stories about the same girl, as opposed to a full-fledged novel. Darling is a rambunctious and curious child who, along with her close group of friends, spend their days trying to live in a violent and cruel world that has been ravaged by war and poverty. The kids wander around the village and nearby town, stealing guavas, and playing made up games about war. These stories about the kids adventures were interesting and heartbreaking. Darling dreams of escaping to America, where her aunt lives, and the second half of the novel follows Darling as she goes to live with her aunt in America, where she struggles to balance the "normal" problems of adolescence and those of an immigrant in a new country. I was not as impressed with the second half of the novel. I felt like there was nothing too special about it, and I did not feel as engaged in Darling's story in America as I did when she was in Zimbabwe. I agree with another reviewer on here that the author tried to tackle too many different issues at once and they all kind of felt half hearted. I can sympathize with Darling's feelings of displacement in a new country and I usually love these types of stories, but this one fell a little flat for me. I would have given the first half five stars, but had to bring my review down to three because of the second half. The first half reminded me a lot about To Kill A Mockingbird (my favorite book), as there were a lot of similarities between the female child narrators, Darling and Scout. I did learn a lot about Zimbabwe though, which was an interesting setting, particularly told from the viewpoint of a child.