Say You’re One of Them

Uwem Akpan
When Uwem Akpan's first short story, "An Ex-Mas feast," was published in The New Yorker's Fiction Issue in 2005 section, it signaled the arrival of a powerfully talented writer. Inducted into Oprah's Book Club in three years later, the literary piece of work was described as: "the truth about the poverty and violence that exists in so many African nations comes only in small news nuggets, through the sanitized windows of our televisions and newspapers."

In five separate narratives, each told from the perspective of a child from one of the African countries, Say You're One of Them vividly portrays the horror and beauty to be found in both historically profound and the most mundane details of everyday life. Each story pays tribute to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the agonizing circumstances.

A family living in a makeshift shanty in urban Kenya scrambles to get presents of any kind for the impeding Christmas holiday. A Rwandan girl relates her family's struggles to maintain a façade 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.

In his moving collection of short stories, Nigerian-born author of Say You're One of Us Akpan challenges the reader to look beyond the headlines and see an Africa full of both joy and despair.

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