I actually didn't know what to expect when I saw this book. Actually, I assumed that it was going to be about an African-American's struggle in a dominant white neighborhood. I thought it was going to be on of those stories again, so I was somewhat interested. Also, the title really caught my attention.
When I started reading the book, I got into it really fast. I was interested in it within the first chapter and I have a good feeling I'm really going to like this book. The first chapter caught my attention because it began with the main character getting robbed by African-Americans. I found it a little funny how the robbers profiled Achak as an African-American. Though he may have the same skin color, it doesn't exactly mean that he is the same race as them. I was a bit confused at first by the robbers. I wasn't really sure if Powder was trying to just act tough, or if he felt bad for Achak. At first, he was trying to act tough, then at one moment he felt sympathy for Achak and offered him some advice, and then a few minutes later, he was cursing at him and calling him names and beating him up. I actually really felt sorry for Achak right in the beginning of the chapter, because he just got suprised and raided by robbers, then he got beaten up, and he was feeling terrible about it. It was a sad scene.I was actually hoping that the robbers would get caught by the police or that someone would save him at least. I liked how the chapter ended however, where he reflected back to his baptism day. Valentino is his Christian name and I found it a little funny how he didn't even know how to pronounce his name until a while after.
I like how the book is set up. It goes back and forth to the present and the past, and Achak describes everything in between. It mostly talks about his past and his survival escapin Sudan and coming to America, with moments when he described the present. I'm curious as to why Achak began thinking about his journey at this point in time, after a robbery, where he seems to be held hostage. Also, he's telling...or at least reminscing back to his childhood to the boy who's supposed to guard him, Micheal. The weird part is, that he's not directly telling Michael his story, but merely reflecting on it, and hoping that Michael would sympathize with him. Michael doesn't sympathize however, and instead drops a book on Achak's head, and baracades him with his own furniture. I will applaud Michael though. Even though what he's doing is wrong, he's a pretty smart boy to think about baracading Achak and even dropping the book on his head to knock him out.
The more Achak got into his story, the more I got interested in reading. It started off slow, basically describing how his childhood was before things got ruined. He seemed like he had a pretty good, easy childhood and everything was fine. Though, when he described the horrors he had seen, such as beatings, murders, and all of that, it was something I didn't expect. Yes, I did expect some brutality, but not as bad or as much as Achak describes in the book. It's crazy. Especially when he describes his nights running in the forest with the Lost Boys. Its brutal, and at times, I wonder if things like that actually happened. Its just something so unbelievable that it only seems right in books or in films, but in real life, it's just something you don't want to ever experience, more or less remember, in Achak's case.
I liked what he mentioned about filling the air with his stories, and staring down a man with his stories. Stories like these should be heard, not for sympathy, but just as a reflection for those who've gone through such trauma. I liked the qoute where he said: "Written words are rare in my village, and it is my right and obligation to send my stories into the world, even if silently, even if utterly powerless." I also liked when he mentioned that method of remembering you're happiest memory in order to make you sleep. It's sad in Achak's childhood situation, but at the same time, it's like a glimpse of hope. That things weren't always bad, and that things can be good.
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