Scan barcode
A review by patty_kansascity
The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya
4.0
"There is an expression in Swahili, vita ni mwizi -- war is a thief."
In the midst of the genocide in Rwanda in the mid-1990s, Clemantine and sister, Claire, were sent away by their parents in hopes of their survival and future. For 7 years and through 7 countries, Clemantine & Claire, who were children, sought out safety, family and a new life -- all the while hoping to find their parents once again. Eventually, they were granted entry into the U.S. as refugees.
The beginning of this non-fiction book is in 2006 when Claire & Clemantine are on the Oprah Winfrey show and, after only having found out that their parents survived the war just years before, are shocked with a reunion with their parents (and siblings they had yet to meet) right on the Oprah stage for million viewers to see. Clemantine starts her book with the shock and happiness of that encounter and continues on with the next day when they awkwardly realize that no one is the same as they had remembered.
This book speaks into the trauma suffered by this refugee family: from the act of fleeing, the uncertainty of a future, near death experiences, acclimating to new cultures, to the reunion with family who have become strangers and trying to figure out where to go from there. It's a good book.
In the midst of the genocide in Rwanda in the mid-1990s, Clemantine and sister, Claire, were sent away by their parents in hopes of their survival and future. For 7 years and through 7 countries, Clemantine & Claire, who were children, sought out safety, family and a new life -- all the while hoping to find their parents once again. Eventually, they were granted entry into the U.S. as refugees.
The beginning of this non-fiction book is in 2006 when Claire & Clemantine are on the Oprah Winfrey show and, after only having found out that their parents survived the war just years before, are shocked with a reunion with their parents (and siblings they had yet to meet) right on the Oprah stage for million viewers to see. Clemantine starts her book with the shock and happiness of that encounter and continues on with the next day when they awkwardly realize that no one is the same as they had remembered.
This book speaks into the trauma suffered by this refugee family: from the act of fleeing, the uncertainty of a future, near death experiences, acclimating to new cultures, to the reunion with family who have become strangers and trying to figure out where to go from there. It's a good book.