# data[].attributes.custom_properties.TCcbb7Ro
I picked up this book in our first independent reading session of the semester, initially intrigued by the slavery auctions. When I started to read the book, I quickly realized that it was going to be a difficult read as the author used words from a variety of African languages in the dialogue. It was difficult to make out what those words meant with context, which I found made it harder and harder for me to turn the page. I wasn't really engaged with the story because I felt like I was missing out on important details. I only made it halfway through the first short story, "An Ex-Mas Feast". From what I read, I learned how hard it can be to make a living when in extreme poverty. In this case, the father was a pickpocket, the daughter was a child prostitute, the other two children were sent to go begging; even the "baby" of the house was used as an accessory for sympathy. I think the book has a great storyline and a beautiful message, but the difficulty to understand the dialogue was the only reason to put the book down. 

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The short story collection "Say You're One of Them" by Nigerian author Uwem Akpan explores the resilience of African children in the face of poverty, religious conflict, and genocide. The first short story, "An Ex-Mas Feast" is about a family living in Kenya who survive of their daughter's earnings, who is a child prostitute. The second short story, "Fattening for Gabon", is about two children who are separated from their parents and sent to live with their uncle, who eventually traffics the kids. Their uncle convinced them to sail to Gabon so they can enjoy a more luxurious life. When reached Gabon, the children were spoiled with food in quantities they have never seen before. It turned out that the children were being fattened for a slave auction. The other short story that sticks out is called "My Parents' Bedroom" which takes place during the Rwandan genocide. It is about a little girl who is hidden in her parent's bedroom by her mother, when a group of men enter the house and force her Hutu (ethnic group in Rwanda) father to kill her mother with a machete (tribal conflict).  

# data[].attributes.custom_properties.TCcbb7Ro
Although I have not completed the entire book, I have lots of good things to say about it. This is the second book I picked to read for our silent independent reading time in class, right after the short story collection "Say You're One of Them" by Nigerian author Uwem Akpan. Since then, I haven't put the book down until we were assigned memoirs. I initially wanted to read the book because I had heard a lot about Barack Obama, more specifically about his political career and the opinions people had about him. Even though the book primarily focusses on his early life and doesn't provide insights into his time in office, I was hoping to draw some conclusions. Conclusions that will help me figure how he got to being President of the United States for two terms and the things that happened in his life that may have had influenced how he governed things the way he did. The thing that caught my attention were the short book reviews provided on the back of the book. The reviews talked about how he described the phenomenon of belonging to two different worlds and his journey of self-discovery. That was the hook for me. And so at last, I started reading. To be completely honest, I was shocked on how he grew up. His childhood was a blend of experiences in Hawaii, Indonesia, and back to Hawaii. He spent most of his childhood with his mom and maternal grandparents in Hawaii who were white, while his father was Kenyan. His mother later remarried and Obama moved with her to Indonesia, where his stepfather Lolo lived. He later returned home back to Hawaii. From this setting that was introduced early on in the book, I caught a sense of how our author would have a hard time figuring himself out. This only intrigued me, because nothing I had already known about Barack Obama would even slightly suggest a nomadic childhood. It was surprising. Only getting about 105 pages into the book, I was not able to get past the part where he accepted an offer to work as a community organizer in Chicago's largely poor and black south side under Marty Kaufman. He was also in the middle of arranging his half sister's trip to the U.S. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the memoir from what I have read as I caught a glimpse of the inner struggle of a biracial person growing up in the 70s in America, which I am sure a lot of people can relate to. His writing style was not difficult to understand, and most importantly I like that he did sugarcoat any of the mistakes he made or the times he steered off path. From understanding and accepting his absent father and Kenyan ancestry to the long-standing and deep problems facing the urban poor, his journey is truly an inspiration. It was fun to read Barack Obama recount his experiences in this significant period of his life and it is a memoir I would definitely recommend. 

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The memoir "Dreams From My Father" by Barack Obama explores Obama's journey as he learns about his heritage, but also searches for a workable meaning to his life as a Black American. The story takes place in New York, where Barack Obama receives a phone call that his father has been killed in a car accident. His father left him and his mother at the age of two and visited them once from Kenya when he was ten. His father's death set Obama out on an emotional journey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother's family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya. He meets his African side of the family there and learns about the truth of his father's life and the inheritance that was left for him.

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A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose

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A Good Wife: Escaping the Life I Never Chose

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I picked this book out of all the memoirs we had to chose from because I felt like I could best understand it. Some of the cultural norms and expectations Samra was held up to were familiar. Pakistani and Hindu culture are different, but society has a major influence over both so that is what made me more connected to this memoir. Reading some of the parts of the book felt like I was reading fiction, but I constantly had to remind myself that this was Samra's real life. It saddened me to think that even the women around her were under heavy influence of society, despite the fact that they may have gone through similar situations and might know what it feels like. But these are the best qualities of the book, Samra gives it to us raw. I think the best way to keep readers engaged is to be fully transparent and that's what Samra did throughout the whole memoir. The way she words her sentences is very touching and the flow of the events is very smooth. I could only imagine how hard it must have been for her to come out with her story, but the amount of women she could be helping with her memoir should not be underestimated. All in all, I think it is a great inspiration for those who need to build courage and take charge of their own life.   

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The memoir "A Good Wife" by Samra Zafar is about the inspiring story of young girl who grows into a women of courage in the face of oppression. At sixteen, Samra had big dreams of going to university which were so easily snatched away from her when she was all of a sudden married to a stranger at seventeen. With no warning in advance, she had to leave her family in Pakistan and settle in with her husband and his family in Canada. She was ensured that the marriage will be a fulfillment of her university dream, but instead the promises were empty ones. After facing years of abuse and desperate to get out, she made a plan to escape with her two daughters. As time passed, she built herself a new future and walked away from her past. Being a teenage bride who came to Canada in a hastily arranged marriage couldn't stop Samra from fulfilling her dreams and achieving her true potential.   