The Garbage King by Elizabeth Laird 336pp, Macmillan
Set in modern-day Ethiopia, The Garbage King contrasts the lives of two boys: one poor, orphaned Mamo, the other wealthy, but misunderstood Dani, who both grow up in Addis Ababa. Mamo is tricked and sold into slavery and by his wits and determination manages to get back to Addis, where he lives with a gang of street children. Dani, too, finds himself living on the streets.
The lives of the two boys become intertwined. This book is a good introduction to the lives of children in Ethiopia after years of civil war. It also exposes the very-real facts of abuses against children and of child labor in Ethiopia.
This book is recommended for students of high intermediate ESL and above.
*(For the year 2000, the International Labour Organization stated that there would be 3,375,000 economically active children, 1,632,000 girls and 1,743,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 41.10% of this age group. (ILO, International Labour Office - Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population 1950-2010, STAT Working Paper, ILO 1997)
No comments:
Post a Comment