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A review by chwaters
Diamond Boy by Michael Williams
4.0
Patson Moyo is pretty happy with his life. He runs on his school's cross-country team, he's on the verge of getting a girlfriend...things are looking good for the foreseeable future. The only thing in his life that really bothers Patson is his step-mother. She's greedy, rude and demanding. Patson can scarcely believe it when she manages to convince Patson's father to give up his teaching job to head down to the diamond fields of Marange in eastern Zimbabwe. Everyone has heard the rumors: diamonds for everyone, everyone will be rich. After a rough and dangerous journey, the family arrives at the diamond fields, only to discover that things are very different from the rumors they've heard. Patson's step-mother has a brother who runs the diamond field at Marange, so the family initially expects to be well-treated, but again, reality fails to meet their expectations. The step-mother more or less abandons the family to live in the main house with her brother while Patson, his father and his little sister eke out a meager existence in a nearby shack. Both Patson and his father work the mines. Patson aims to find a girazi, a large diamond that he might sell so that he can get his family out of the mines. Not too terribly long after their arrival, the Zimbabwean government sends soldiers in to reclaim the diamond mines. The Moyo's situation quickly goes from bad to worse, with Patson stepping on a landmine and his sister being kidnapped.
Diamond Boy takes readers to a place rarely seen in Young Adult literature. Readers may have heard the term "blood diamond" before, but likely have little reference point for what this term actually implies. Williams creates a likeable and relate-able character in Patson. Even if his decisions seem ill-advised, his drive to save his family is noble. Readers will learn a great deal about how diamonds are mined, as well as the tragic events surrounding the government take-over of the diamond mines and the subsequent black-market trading of diamonds. While this may sound like a political story, it really is not. This is a very human story, told with compassion while never sparing the reader from the unpleasant realities of a brutal industry.
Diamond Boy takes readers to a place rarely seen in Young Adult literature. Readers may have heard the term "blood diamond" before, but likely have little reference point for what this term actually implies. Williams creates a likeable and relate-able character in Patson. Even if his decisions seem ill-advised, his drive to save his family is noble. Readers will learn a great deal about how diamonds are mined, as well as the tragic events surrounding the government take-over of the diamond mines and the subsequent black-market trading of diamonds. While this may sound like a political story, it really is not. This is a very human story, told with compassion while never sparing the reader from the unpleasant realities of a brutal industry.