Lance Greenfield (2)

Open the pages of this book and slip inside the existence of Boitumelo Tumelo, a young girl from Botswana, who leads the reader on an incredible journey from her childhood into adulthood in a world fraught with difficulty and strife. I was humbled by her compelling story and the bravery and determination she exhibited to achieve her dreams.

Boi is a gifted child who lives in abject poverty. She faces cruelty and stares down social injustices. Food is scarce, and many mornings she begins the show more laborious eleven-mile walk to school on a breakfast fueled by a crust of bread. Life is not easy in her village, and it is a struggle just to survive.

Her parents, grandparents, and her older brothers contribute their hard-earned cash to send her and her brother to school. Not only is this considered an honor, but it is also a calling. Boi realizes early, that if she is to succeed in life, she must get an education.

Like the proverbial sponge, Boi soaks up one academic challenge after another, and her hard work and determination finally pay off. But it is her commitment to change that really grabs the reader. Boi realizes that if she runs the miles to school and back, she will have more time to dedicate to her studies. Her ingenuity is stunning.

Boi turns the daily obstacle of the eleven-mile walk to school into an active endeavor. After running twenty-two miles a day, Boi discovers her real gift, that of becoming a long distance runner.

I had this book in my “To be read,” pile for quite some time. The story did not disappoint. I loved Boi’s story from start to finish, and I enjoyed the cultural elements the story provided. Lance Greenfield Mitchell takes you on a journey to a place far away from our western philosophy. I wish Boi’s story became mandatory reading for young people everywhere so they could appreciate their advantages. I know it made me appreciate the many opportunities I have been afforded.

My Rating:
Character Believability: 5
Flow and Pace: 5
Reader Engagement: 5
Reader Enrichment: 4
Reader Enjoyment: 5
Overall Rate: 4.5 out of 5 stars show less

The Author and Editor of this book appear to have good intentions but their approach, values, and perspectives are rather contorted and wanting in basic form and decency.

1. Moral and ethical problems

Seems to be that Mr. Greenfield needs some refinement on community morals and ethics. His rendition of cultivating a fruitful life through educational aspiration is distorted. His “literary” piece titled Eleven Miles with its cover photo in black-and-white, depicting a quiet solitary dirt show more road in a remote village and summary excerpt on the back cover telling of an “inspiring story” about an individual who has to overcome “obstacles and dangers” belies the book’s disturbing perspectives on schooling, sexual promiscuity, vengeful motives, and cunning deceptions. What at first seems a book that looks welcoming for young readers turns out to be a piece of writing that an adult might think twice about reading all the way through never mind re-reading in whole; not sure if it would be all that responsible putting this work in the hands of a minor child, so please beware.

Greenfield’s authoring operation inundates close to 1/3 of the book with details such as lifting skirts up and tearing pants off, describing in detail Boitumelo’s (Boi’s) love escapades with one Keith and their associated reproductive fluids(Greenfield and Editor are approvingly and grotesquely graphic in their detailed accounts. 119); yet, Greenfield simultaneously attempts to create inspiration and motivation describing an educational atmosphere where Boi thrives on undercutting her classmates and the rest of the school; depicting her obsession with the “charts,” “fighting” competitiveness against classmates, cut-throat “rivalry,” etc. When her mother asks why Boi arrives home late from school, the book writes off Boi’s delinquency with her rather flippant response, “'I come home much later than this when I have homework to do before I leave school for the day.' Or when I am making love to my gorgeous boyfriend.” 131. A staff member at the school holds an ever-lingering threat to reveal Boi’s promiscuity after he sees her and her boyfriend in one of their school grounds escapades. He brushes past her and fondles her at opportune moments during school, and the book disturbingly communicates that this is quite ok and all’s good, for Boi “resolved to put up with a little groping to maintain their secret.” Greenfield satisfyingly writes, “In the meantime, the couple found plenty of secret places where they could continue their love affair.” 128.

2. Distorted sense of time lapse

Greenfield’s sense of time and place is a rather contorted vision of the world. He spends more than 72 pages weaving the story of Boi’s overtly sexual encounters in school classrooms, on school grounds, behind several trees, and the like; yet, the fellow spends a mere five sentences to build up to the passing of Boi’s friend Grace who suffered fatal injuries from being struck against rocks while swimming in a dangerous river.

3. Grammar/Syntax conundrums

Supplementing Mr. Greenfield’s and his Editor’s crude perspectives on healthy motivation and inspiration, their piece of work is riddled with grammar and syntax errors: What does “There were a two or three hundred Batswana inside the stadium . . .” mean? And this, “which was even hotter and more arid than the verdant Okavango Delta..”? show less