In this story by NoViolet Bulawayo, a Zimbabwean girl is full of hatred when her father returns home terminally ill after years of no contact or family support. He is totally helpless and, because of his condition (AIDS), her mother forbids her to tell anyone he is back. There are few secrets in an African slum and, when her friends insist on seeing him, she fears they will treat him cruelly. To her surprise, they are respectful, gentle and caring, which begins to turn her feelings around. Themes include abandonment, hatred, fatal illness (AIDS), shame, secrecy, compassion, religion, church greed/corruption. More…

In this story by NoViolet Bulawayo six hungry children from an African slum “raid” the guava trees of a rich neighborhood. Aged eight to eleven, one of them (a ten-year-old) is pregnant to her grandfather. As they return home they discuss their dreams and aspirations, with one making the grim prediction that one day they will move to bigger things inside the houses. Close to home they find a woman’s body hanging from a tree. Before reporting it, they remove her shoes to sell for a loaf of bread. Themes include social inequality, poverty, dehumanization, friendship, freedom, childhood innocence. More…