Say You're One Of Them - GIVEAWAY!! CLOSED

This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Sarah, pish, Zesty Wonderland, Nikolay, and Lori Taube for winning.

Say You're One Of Them
by Uwem Akpan

-information taken from the Hachette Book Group website

Each story in this jubilantly acclaimed collection pays testament to the wisdom and resilience of children, even in the face of the most agonizing circumstances.



A family living in a makeshift shanty in urban Kenya scurries to find gifts of any kind for the impending Christmas holiday. A Rwandan girl relates her family's struggles to maintain a facade of normalcy amid unspeakable acts. A young brother and sister cope with their uncle's attempt to sell them into slavery. Aboard a bus filled with refugees-a microcosm of today's Africa-a Muslim boy summons his faith to bear a treacherous ride across Nigeria. Through the eyes of childhood friends the emotional toll of religious conflict in Ethiopia becomes viscerally clear.

About the Author


Uwem Akpan's debut signals the arrival of a breathtakingly talented writer who gives a matter-of-fact reality to the most extreme circumstances in stories that are nothing short of transcendent.

Uwem Akpan was born in Ikot Akpan Eda in southern Nigeria. After studying philosophy and English at Creighton and Gonzaga universities, he studied theology for three years at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa. He was ordained as a Jesuit priest in 2003 and received his MFA in creative writing from the University of Michigan in 2006. "My Parents' Bedroom," a story from his short story collection, Say You're One of Them, was one of five short stories by African writers chosen as finalists for The Caine Prize for African Writing 2007.

Audio and Video

• Interview with Uwem Akpan
• Listen to an Excerpt

MY REVIEW

Say You're One of Them is a heartbreaking book. It is very well written and the author paints amazingly vivid word pictures that draw the reader right in. Each of the stories could be a full novel on their own but put together it makes an even bigger impact on the reader. The knowledge that events like the ones described in these stories happen in real life regularly is intense. This is not a happy light read but it is well worth it.

Thanks so much to the Hachette Book Group for sending me a review copy of this book and for sponsoring this giveaway.



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~Leave me a comment here telling me you would like to win! That's it :)

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This giveaway is open to readers in Canada and the USA (no PO boxes). I will choose 5 winners on January 20, 2010.

Winner will be chosen with random.org and notified by email so please leave me a way to contact you. Winner will have 48 hours to reply to my email or I will choose a new winner.

Don't forget to enter my other great giveaways...

1. Win The Looking Book by P.K.Hallinan HERE. (ends January 5, open to Canada/USA)
2. Win How To Clean Your Room by Eileen Spinelli HERE. (ends January 6, open to Canada/USA)
3. Win SafetyTats HERE. (ends January 11, open to Canada/USA)
4. Win Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo HERE. (ends January 12, open to Canada/USA)
5. Win Coconut Cream Concentrate from Tropical Traditions HERE. (ends January 15, open to Canada/USA)
6. Win an Oral-B prize pack HERE. (ends January 19 ,open to Canada only)