Alexandria of Africa is written in first person, from Alexandria's point of view. Interestingly enough, Alexandria is not very likeable. She's actually quite terrible. She steals for kicks. She lies. She's in trouble with the law and doesn't understand why everybody won't just leave her alone.

The story opens in Canada, with Alexandria facing a judge for a second offense. She is so blasé the reader wants to reach into the pages and smack her. Such is her sense of entitlement. Walters does a wonderful job of taking us right to the brink of unrest in the way we feel for the narrator. The reader wants to see Alexandria receive just punishment not only for her actions but also for her outlook on the world around her.

Although she does receive a sentence, it's not the one the reader would like. In lieu of a stay in a youth detention centre, Alexandria is sentenced to a work program in Kenya. The reader becomes more angry as we are privy to Alexandria's constant inner dialogue of entitlement. But we know she's in for a rude awakening...or a blossoming, if you will. Walters sets all the signposts for that eventual enlightenment with dead accuracy, through the experiences Alexandria faces along the way.

This poor little rich girl is a slow learner. As she meets the people she will work with in Kenya, she stubbornly finds fault with them where others would see good. The turning point doesn't happen when Alexandria is put to work in the sweltering heat of Africa. That, I think, is what makes Walters' storytelling so fine. He could have taken the easy route and made Alexandria open her eyes when she saw the work that needed to be done for these people less privileged than her. But she didn't. She did everything to make it look like she was working, when in fact she was slacking off...thinking about nails and clothes and cars and home.

Enter Ruth, a Maasai girl who takes Alexandria in to the world of her small village. It is an eye-opening experience for Alexandria that shaves some of the sharper corners off of this unlikeable character. The outcome of Alexandria's journey is a fulfilling one for the reader, who was beginning to think there was no way she would compromise her spoiled rich-girl outlook on life.

To tell you more would be to reveal more spoilers than I already have revealed. I'll just say that Walters wrote a fine story of personal growth that doesn't come off as being too preachy or lesson oriented. He manages to make the reader dislike his narrator to the point where they seek her failure. But he also manages to subtly make that character open to the possibility of change.

This was a pleasant read. It brought me back to the wonderful country of Kenya. It also helped to shed light not only on the plight of some of the country's poorest people, but also on the wonderful spirit they have in the face of that plight. I happily recommend this book. If you have been to Africa, it will skillfully take you back there. If you have not...it will allow you to see it as acurately as any book can. ( )

Fantastic story about a rich brat who ends up in Kenya doing volunteer work instead of jail time as a consequence for shoplifting. Miraculously, this experience changes her and helps her become a better person. ( )

This book is about a girl name Alexandria. Alexandria has been sent to juvenile. Now she came back to court because she got caught for shoplifting. Her mother and father are divorce and Alexandria is really popular at her school. But when Alexandria hears the judge say she is bening sent to Africa, she gets very scared and worried because she is going half way around the world without her parents and, she's never been anywhere without them. She told the judge that she rather stay here but when the judge told her that she would have to stay in one og the jail cells she declined the offer and, she told her parents that she'll be okay without them. And off she wen to Africa. When Alexandria landed in Africa the lady she meet there was Renee. Renee was the person from child save. Alexandria didn't know why she was there she taught she was suppose to be getting punsih. Renee took Alexandrai to a big place where there were many other children that weren't from Africa. These children were here for he exact same reason Alexandria was here for. To build a school for the Maasai children. Alexandrai first struggles to fitting in. She also struggles with the lack of electricity, the toilets that are holes in the floor, the hard work needed to build the school, the bad food and contaminated water. A Maasai girl, Ruth, be comes friends with Alexandria and introduces her to villageto Alexandria. Ruths family lives in mud huts and families of 12, the girls walking miles to collect dirty water while their brothers patrol with spears to keep the lions at away. When Ruth’s mother goes into labour and the baby is a breach, the family goes to Alexandria for help. They asl Alexandria to take them to the nearest hosptail, which is miles away on a deeply rutted, pitted road. She takes the centre’s old jeep and when the clinic refuses to take the dying woman, Alexandria lends all her spending money to help the family. ( )

Alexandria Hyatt is an extremely self-centered, obnoxious teen who violates her probation, steals a "few small items" and is going to end up in juvenile detention IF she doesn't agree to participate in a diversion program. When she considers how horrible her holding cell is, she decides she'd rather do anything than go back there. Before she realizes it, she's on a plane to Kenya. She is definitely NOT prepared to help build schools, and she finds the cheerfulness of the volunteer group incredibly annoying. I don't often give a book five starts, but Alexandria's voice is incredibly strong. I loved that, although her character changes, the ways in which she changes are not beyond belief. Her experiences change her perspective, and Eric Walters' experience in Africa obviously shines through in this delightful and well written novel. I highly recommend it! ( )