Title: We Need New Names
Author: NoViolet Bulawayo
Genre: YA Fiction
Year of Release: 2014
Review: Darling dreams of moving to America with her aunt where she will have dolls and she’ll never be hungry. But she’s a world away, in Zimbabwe where she lives in a shack and her best friend is pregnant at age 11. Yet in these circumstances, she still has a mostly happy and safe childhood.
That doesn’t mean, however, that when the opportunity to move halfway across the world is offered, that she will pass it up. Once there she begins to discover that the American Dream may be harder to reach than she had anticipated.
I really loved this book. It doesn’t sugar coat the reality of moving to the USA and the disillusionment felt by many immigrants. At the same time, it isn’t all doom and gloom. Especially in the first half of the book, it can be pretty funny. It feels real, because it is. Bulawayo grew up in Zimbabwe and then moved to the States, so I think it’s safe to say at least some of the story comes from her own life.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again; progression is key. This is a spot on example of how to transition from a child’s point of view to a young adult’s.
A wonderfully different perspective, and a completely fascinating book.
Rating: 7 and a half stars
Quote: “Then Maneru’s grandfather comes sprinting down Freedom Street without his walking stick, shouting, They are coming, Jesus Christ, they are coming! Everyone is standing on the street, neck craned, waiting to see. Then Mother shouts, Darling – comeintothehousenow! but then the bulldozers are already near, big and yellow and terrible and metal teeth and spinning dust.”
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