Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Say You're One of Them

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays testament to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances.

A family living in a makeshift shanty in urban Kenya scurries to find gifts of any kind for the impending Christmas holiday. A Rwandan girl relates her family's struggles to maintain a facade of normalcy amid unspeakable acts. A young brother and sister cope with their uncle's attempt to sell them into slavery. Aboard a bus filled with refugees—a microcosm of today's Africa—a Muslim boy summons his faith to bear a treacherous ride across Nigeria. Through the eyes of childhood friends the emotional toll of religious conflict in Ethiopia becomes viscerally clear.

Uwem Akpan's debut signals the arrival of a breathtakingly talented writer who gives a matter-of-fact reality to the most extreme circumstances in stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      A collection of anguishing stories from Africa is made all the more difficult to bear because the protagonists are all children or teenagers, each with a limited comprehension of the evil afoot but no protection from its harm. Robin Miles, Dion Graham, and Kevin Free narrate different stories, and all of them manage the balance these stories require. The three narrators successfully convey the na•veté of the young characters while also showing their awakening to the dangers that threaten them. Miles, Graham, and Free are equally adept, especially in reproducing the lilting African cadences. Nevertheless, the switch from one reader to the next is welcome--a breath of air before being resubmerged in the horror. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from December 21, 2009
      This brilliant collection of short stories by Nigerian-born Akpan invites listeners into a world of beauty and heartbreak where young people in the throes of adolescence struggle to survive harrowing violence and tragedy. Miles and the remarkable Graham meet the prose with their own intensity and bring flourishes to the realistic, empathetic characters. Graham is a true stand-out: he inhabits each character fully, aces accents, and excels at conveying an understated melancholy. A thrilling work of art. A Little, Brown hardcover.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      This abridgment includes three stories from Nigerian writer Uwem Akpan's collection. The title story, "Say You're One of Them," recounts horrifying days in the Rwandan Hutu-Tutsi conflict, narrated in the first person by a young girl. Robin Miles adopts a lovely French-African accent, and if she allows Akpan's beautiful turns of phrase to shine, the underlying tension and fear are also never far from the surface. Miles also narrates "What Language Is That?" This story is partially unaccented, a choice that accentuates the second-person point of view. "An Ex-Mas Feast" follows the sometimes-humorous, sometimes-bleak fortunes of a street family in Nairobi. Dion Graham, in Kenyan-accented English, successfully embodies the family's mother and father, teenaged daughter, and young son. Overall, not an easy listen, but a worthwhile one. J.M.D. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from April 14, 2008
      Nigerian-born Jesuit priest Akpan transports the reader into gritty scenes of chaos and fear in his rich debut collection of five long stories set in war-torn Africa. “An Ex-mas Feast” tells the heartbreaking story of eight-year-old Jigana, a Kenyan boy whose 12-year-old sister, Maisha, works as a prostitute to support her family. Jigana’s mother quells the children’s hunger by having them sniff glue while they wait for Maisha to earn enough to bring home a holiday meal. In “Luxurious Hearses,” Jubril, a teenage Muslim, flees the violence in northern Nigeria. Attacked by his own Muslim neighbors, his only way out is on a bus transporting Christians to the south. In “Fattening for Gabon,” 10-year-old Kotchikpa and his younger sister are sent by their sick parents to live with their uncle, Fofo Kpee, who in turn explains to the children that they are going to live with their prosperous “godparents,” who, as Kotchikpa pieces together, are actually human traffickers. Akpan’s prose is beautiful and his stories are insightful and revealing, made even more harrowing because all the horror—and there is much—is seen through the eyes of children. (June) Read a web-exclusive q&a with Uwem Akpan at www.publishersweekly.com/akpan.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading