Books teach and inspire us, give us hope and make us believe in the strength and goodness of the human spirit. When we read, we learn from the experiences of others and gain hope for the future. Books make us aware that we are part of a larger story than just our own. Through reading, we realize the importance of human connection in the midst of injustice and violence.
The End of Your Life Book Club by Will Schwalbe is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother who start a "book club" that brings them together as her life comes to a close. They find a way to communicate their feelings about what is happening to them through their discussions of the books that they read. This book brought me to tears but was also a humorous celebration of life. Will and his mother, Mary Anne, read all these books:
A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah is the riveting story of a child's journey through hell and back. At the age of 12, Ishmael is forced to flee from his home when rebels attack. Devastated by the loss of his family and starving, Ishmael is picked up by the government army. A gentle boy at heart, he is brainwashed by the army and addicted to cocaine, marijuana and "brown brown," which allow him to commit unspeakable acts and repress the memories. Eventually released by the army, Ishmael is sent to a UNICEF rehabilitation centre. At times difficult to read - and it's impossible to believe that we live in a world where this could happen to a child - this book is ultimately a story of incredible redemption and hope.
The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland is the true story of a young girl from Sierra Leone who suffers terribly at the hands of child rebel soldiers. Mariatu lived peacefully in a small village surrounded by family and friends. Heavily armed rebel soldiers, many no more than children themselves, capture and torture her. Miraculously, Mariatu survives. With no family to support her and living in a refugee camp, she turns to begging on the streets of Freetown. Eventually, Mariatu makes her way to Toronto and goes on to become a UNICEF special representative for children in armed conflict. Just like Ishmael's in A Long Way Gone, Mariatu's story is one of incredible courage and survival.
The Lizard Cage by Karen Connelly is a story of the resilience of the human spirit. Teza, a celebrated singer of protest songs, is arrested by the Burmese police and sentenced to 27 years in solitary confinement. This book is written as Teza is seven years into his sentence. His existence challenges the brutality of the jailers and has a profound influence on the people around him. For Teza, isolated from everything, the written word takes on incredible power. "Words are like ants. They work their way through the thickest walls, eating through bricks and feeding off the very silence intended to stifle them."
The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion is the story of a marriage and a life in good times and bad. This powerful book is Didion's attempt to make sense of the "weeks and then months that cut loose any fixed idea I ever had about death, about illness about marriage and children and memory... about the shallowness of sanity, about life itself." Didion's powerful descriptions of her emotions following the death of her husband and the illness of her daughter help us make sense of death and grieving. "I know why we try to keep the dead alive: we try to keep them alive in order to keep them with us. I also know that if we are to live ourselves, there comes a point at which we must relinquish the dead, let them go, keep them dead."
If you are looking for more great titles, don't hesitate to ask at your local library. We are always happy to recommend books for you to read.
-A Good Read is a column by Tri-City librarians that is published every Wednesday. Dianne Allan works at Terry Fox Library in Port Coquitlam.
