"How do you explain to someone that a part of you has died? How to you tell someone that you feel like a ghost without a soul?" Thirteen year old Clare Silver has just lost her mom to cancer. Her father, a doctor, has taken her to Malawi, Africa where he served in the Peace Corps. Clare must attend the Mzanga Full Primary School, learn a new language, and teach English to the Standard One students. On an outing to the beach, Innocent, the brother of her new friend, Memory, comes down with malaria and despite Claire's heroic efforts, he dies. Claire believes that if Innocent had gone to the better hospital he might have been saved. But Memory "knows there's a system in place, and we can't change it overnight. We can only do our small part, and take one step at a time, even it that step involves tangling with the law." This is wonderful, inspiring book filled with facts and eye opening insights into life in Africa.
"There's no happy occasion complete without some chocolate."
"Grief isn't a tunnel you walk through and you're done. It waxes and wanes like the moon."
Mark Twain Award Preliminary Nominee 2014-15
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