Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight, an African Childhood

Rating:
Summary: An uncomfortable read
Review: This is a very personal account of a girl growing up in Africa.
Feels a lot like reading someone's diary, with the family's losses, grief, and subsequent functional breakdown exposed for all to see.
It's written truthfully, maybe too much so.
I was very absorbed by this book, but I'm not sure I can say I actually enjoyed it.


Rating:
Summary: Hope
Review: Yes it's about a family tragedy set within an awful war, but unlike some books that grind on and on with sadness and despair there is none of that here. I was riveted by the author's gritty, honest, down to earth style, and how she made that convincing even from the viewpoint of a child. At the worst moments of the story it was not helplessness, but pluck, determination and human dignity that reverberated through the words. The author is a survivor not a victim. The end of the book came far too soon... I was left wanting the rest of the story. And I was left with one feeling-hope.