The author, a native of Africa and Jesuit priest, wrote this book of short stories to give a voice to the children of Africa and let the world know the atrocities they must endure, and often don't survive. The title is what children are told to say when angry mobs threaten to kill them for being of a different religion or tribe. The differences are frequently within families, leading brothers to murder brothers and husbands to kill wives.

The relentless poverty is also a threat. People sniff glue to dull the hunger. A family living in an alley is supported by the teenage daughter's prostitution. Children whose parents are dying of AIDS are sent to live with an uncle who then sells them. But not all of the stories are about poverty. Even the wealthier families are not immune to ethnic cleansing.

The writing is straight forward with no wasted words and allows the situations to speak for themselves. There are no happy endings to these stories, but they must be read. It's like having a chance to read Ann Frank's diary in time to save her.

The book is one of Oprah's picks. ( )

A powerful collection of short stories told through the eyes of children living in different countries in Africa. Each story left me speechless. In America, where we can find hope if we are looking, it's hard to imagine a place that is filled with such hopelessness. But in the face of such adversity all children are able to carve out a place for joy. Even if you only read one or two stories, you'll come away with a better sense of the struggles that exist in the far away continent of Africa. ( )

I got this book out of the library when I read on line that Oprah was scheduled to announce her next book club selection in a few weeks, and it looked like it was going to be this one, based on some clues that had been revealed. It was on the shelf in my local library. When I tried to renew it after she announced it as the selection on her show last week, there were already several holds waiting, so I had to finish it in time to return it on the initial due date.

It consists of five short stories that take place in different countries in Africa. The are all focused on children and the effect that the dire circumstances of their life affect them. The first story, “An Ex-Mas Feast” takes place in Nairobi, Kenya. It is 32 pages long. The story revolves around a ten year old boy whose family is living in extreme poverty. His older sister is twelve and is earning money as a prostitute, selling herself to Western tourists. He parents encourage this.

Next is “Fattening for Gabon,” a 134 page story about two children who are going to be sold by their uncle and taken to Gabon. We see at the beginning of the story how the children are prepared for this in a way that convinces them that this is a good thing.

“What Language is That?” is the shortest story at only 12 pages. It is about two girls in Ethiopia who are best friends until their religious differences make that impossible to continue.

“Luxurious Hearses” is 134 pages. A teen-age boy who is from a mixed Christian-Muslim marriage has to flee from the mostly Muslim north of Nigeria to the mostly Christian south. He grew up in the north and was raised Muslim. But, he was facing attack from his former friends in the north because of his Christian heritage. He travels to the south, heading to his Christian father's village, on a bus filled with Christians who are also fleeing for their own protection, and he has to hide the fact that he is Muslim from them.

“My Parents' Bedroom” is about a young girl in Rwanda, who is from a mixed Hutu-Tutsi marriage during the Hutu on Tutsi genocide that occurred there. It is another very short tale, only 30 pages.

Of course, I was already aware of how desperate the situation is for so many in Africa, due to wars and other conflicts, poverty, disease, etc. The first story of the collection was so depressing, that I almost stopped reading the book. There is no hope in any of these stories, and you will feel greatly for the characters. Nothing much good happens in their lives. The stories will deeply affect you though. ( )

Say You’re One of Them is a book of five short stories written by Uwem Akpan. All of the stories are set in Africa and are told from a child’s perspective. They deal with such topics as slavery, religious conflict, genocide and poverty. These are stories of love and sacrifice. They are stories of compassion and confusion. They make you wonder how children can grow up and survive under such circumstances. Some of the stories will leave you feeling numb.

The story that had the biggest impact on me was My Parent’s Bedroom. It’s the story of Monique, a young girl living in Rwanda with her Tutsi mother and her Hutu father. There is conflict between the two tribes, which Monique and her brother Jean don’t understand. It all comes to a horrifying ending for their family when their mother makes the ultimate sacrifice. I can’t describe the horror I felt at the end of this story.

I enjoyed Say You’re One of Them and think it’s a significant book, but I found some of the dialogue very difficult to read. I think it would have been even harder if I didn’t know some French. There were times when I had to read sentences several times to extract their meaning. Here’s an example of dialogue, chosen at random:

“My mama no be like dat,” Jubril argued. “I say I dey come. I go join una now now. Ah ah, no vex now. Come, pollow me go fark dis cows, and I go join.”

This book isn’t a fast read, but I think it’s an important one. The title of the book comes from the fact that children in Africa sometimes have to deny their identity and say they’re one of “them” (another tribe or religion) in order to survive. You will be a different person after you’ve read this book. ( )

Short stories that tell with touching sadness how the children in Africa live their daily lives. Written almost lyrically, the inclusion of many African dialects adds difficulty to the text and unfortunately, the subject matter left me with feelings of despair. There is little hope for these children: A 12 year old girl whose prostitution provides the family's only income as she tries to earn enough to send her younger brother to school; a brother and younger sister being sold into slavery by their uncle as their parents die of Hiv/aids; two little girls who are best friends but kept apart by their parents due to religious differences; a Muslim teenager trying to pass himself off as Christian on a bus trip between the warring North and South of his country; and two children witnessing the horrors of Rwanda. Tough stuff. ( )