Book review
"Snakes, lions, and every other fantasy vanished. Heat overwhelmed me as I stood, stunned, in the fierce, dry, completely still air. It was unfairly, unbelievably hot, heat like nothing I had ever felt before. Normal thought, in this temperature and blinding light, was suddenly impossible. Mesmerized, I watched shimmering waves float above the dark tar. Beyond the runway fence posts, the flat green scrub seemed frozen behind the wobbling veil of heat. The almost white sky was empty; nothing stirred in the bushes; a few black cows stood motionless, sleeping beside the fence.
Heat was the only thing moving."
--Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood
by Robyn Scott
When I was in Seattle in April, my mom and I killed some time in a little bookstore that wasn't particularly by anything. We happened to meet a blonde woman with a faintly British accent inside and, being my mom and me, we started up a conversation. It turned out that she had written the book we'd seen advertised in the window as we walked up, the very oddly named "Twenty Chickens for a Saddle." It was a story of her childhood growing up in Botswana, the child of a flying bush doctor and a very free-thinking mother determined to home-school her children to avoid squelching their creativity. The excerpt above is when she arrived in Botswana at age 7, after living in New Zealand and England her entire life. She stayed in Botswana until leaving for college.
Her parents, as I said, were something of free-thinkers, getting involved in a variety of odd projects and encouraging their three children in any kind of project that developed their mind and creativity. The title, for example, comes from the twenty rescue chickens Robyn received one Christmas instead of the new saddle she wanted, so she could start a free-range egg business and buy the saddle herself. She tells a tale of the most interesting childhood imaginable, all interspersed with images of typical life in Africa and her father's struggles as a doctor in a country that was about to become the AIDS capital of the world.
As you can see from the excerpt above, Robyn has a beautiful descriptive style, painting such vivid pictures that I almost feel I've been to Africa. Some parts have an almost lyrical beauty, while others are deeply depressing or thigh-slapping hysterical. Her parents, brother, sister, and grandparents -- especially the absolute character of Grandpa Ivor -- are so intriguing you want each of them to have a book of their own by the end. I absolutely recommend this book. Please check it out!
Heat was the only thing moving."
--Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood
by Robyn Scott
When I was in Seattle in April, my mom and I killed some time in a little bookstore that wasn't particularly by anything. We happened to meet a blonde woman with a faintly British accent inside and, being my mom and me, we started up a conversation. It turned out that she had written the book we'd seen advertised in the window as we walked up, the very oddly named "Twenty Chickens for a Saddle." It was a story of her childhood growing up in Botswana, the child of a flying bush doctor and a very free-thinking mother determined to home-school her children to avoid squelching their creativity. The excerpt above is when she arrived in Botswana at age 7, after living in New Zealand and England her entire life. She stayed in Botswana until leaving for college.
Her parents, as I said, were something of free-thinkers, getting involved in a variety of odd projects and encouraging their three children in any kind of project that developed their mind and creativity. The title, for example, comes from the twenty rescue chickens Robyn received one Christmas instead of the new saddle she wanted, so she could start a free-range egg business and buy the saddle herself. She tells a tale of the most interesting childhood imaginable, all interspersed with images of typical life in Africa and her father's struggles as a doctor in a country that was about to become the AIDS capital of the world.
As you can see from the excerpt above, Robyn has a beautiful descriptive style, painting such vivid pictures that I almost feel I've been to Africa. Some parts have an almost lyrical beauty, while others are deeply depressing or thigh-slapping hysterical. Her parents, brother, sister, and grandparents -- especially the absolute character of Grandpa Ivor -- are so intriguing you want each of them to have a book of their own by the end. I absolutely recommend this book. Please check it out!