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Auma's Long Run
Auma has been running all her life.
In her small Kenyan village, she's a track star with big dreams. A track scholarship could allow her to attend high school and maybe even become a doctor someday. But a strange new sickness called AIDS is ravaging the village, and when her father becomes ill, Auma's family needs her help at home.
Soon more people are getting sick -- even dying -- and no one seems to know why. Now Auma faces a choice. She can either quit school and go to work to support her struggling family...or leave her loved ones behind to pursue her own future.
Auma knows her family is depending on her. But leaving might be the only way to find the answers to her questions about this new disease.
In her small Kenyan village, she's a track star with big dreams. A track scholarship could allow her to attend high school and maybe even become a doctor someday. But a strange new sickness called AIDS is ravaging the village, and when her father becomes ill, Auma's family needs her help at home.
Soon more people are getting sick -- even dying -- and no one seems to know why. Now Auma faces a choice. She can either quit school and go to work to support her struggling family...or leave her loved ones behind to pursue her own future.
Auma knows her family is depending on her. But leaving might be the only way to find the answers to her questions about this new disease.
297 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2017
About the author
Eucabeth A. Odhiambo
3 books22 followersDr. Eucabeth Odhiambo is a member of the Department of Teacher Education faculty at Shippensburg University. She has served the education community in a variety of positions during the past 25 years. As a classroom teacher she worked with K, and 2nd - 8th grades. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in the Early Childhood and Curriculum and Instruction programs. She currently teaches child development and social studies methods. She is also involved in student teacher supervision. She has made numerous professional presentations at local, state, national, and international conferences. She has authored publications on teaching, pre-service training and diversity.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
November 18, 2017
This was a wonderful, wonderful read. I read it in two settings--not because it was short but because it was just so good. The protagonist has to endure the loss of both parents but yet is determined not to "take the easy road out" in order to find a better life for herself. I love the message that getting a good education is the answer.
July 25, 2017
Set in a 1980s Kenyan Luo village during the HIV/AIDS epidemic,
Auma's Long Run
is a piercingly honest account of the struggles, pain, hardships, deaths, famine, and challenges faced by a determined young girl and her community with grace and fortitude. Debut author Eucabeth A. Odhiambo, who grew up in a Luo village, beautifully brings out the complicated ways thirteen year old Auma, her family, and neighbors cope with the scourge. Lack of resources, traditional practices, personalities, and more make this a riveting and complex read. While this is not a story that wallows in misery -- Auma is too determined to ever give up -- there are still many loses; in one case after the death of a friend's parents, lack of food causes her little sister to die of malnutrition. How to get to the clinic to see a doctor, whether to consult with a traditional healer, where to get money for school fees and school uniforms, frightening cure mis-beliefs (one causing a man to threaten Auma sexually), and more swirl around this tale. Auma desperately wants to go to secondary school, to become a doctor, to then learn more about this disease and help find a cure. But her obstacles are daunting. Odhiambo relates Auma's story in clear and direct prose, as practical and realistic as her protagonist. Her descriptions of Auma's life are vivid and authentic, her scenes raw and real. While there is indeed sorrow and sadness, there is also humor and joy. Highly recommend this one.
February 26, 2018
What you don't know could kill you. In Auma's village, nobody knows what to do to avoid getting the mysterious illness that is killing their friends and neighbors. Auma is still in school, and she's busy studying, helping her family at home, and participating in the school track team. But soon, the mysterious illness forcibly disrupts all of that.
I was expecting this to be more about the running.
With that cover and title, and the first sentence of most summaries I read, I was hoping this would appeal to the sports-book kids. I read it with this expectation, eyeing my 2018 middle school booktalk lineup.
And it definitely made that lineup, but not because it is a sports book.
To me, the focus felt more similar to The Way We Fall - more like an epidemic thriller. It's more thoughtful than that - we focus more on the day-to-day life of Auma, and her personal choices as the disease affects her family - but the loom is there. It's been a bit since I read this, but I don't remember if they ever actually name the disease in the actual story (even though they do in the summaries).
All that expectation-talk aside, I loved the book.
Auma is a sympathetic character who you root for the whole way through.
I used it as my opener for all the 6th grade classes I spoke to, and some of the older grades asked for it too.
More of these stories need to be told - by the people who lived through them.
I was expecting this to be more about the running.
With that cover and title, and the first sentence of most summaries I read, I was hoping this would appeal to the sports-book kids. I read it with this expectation, eyeing my 2018 middle school booktalk lineup.
And it definitely made that lineup, but not because it is a sports book.
To me, the focus felt more similar to The Way We Fall - more like an epidemic thriller. It's more thoughtful than that - we focus more on the day-to-day life of Auma, and her personal choices as the disease affects her family - but the loom is there. It's been a bit since I read this, but I don't remember if they ever actually name the disease in the actual story (even though they do in the summaries).
All that expectation-talk aside, I loved the book.
Auma is a sympathetic character who you root for the whole way through.
I used it as my opener for all the 6th grade classes I spoke to, and some of the older grades asked for it too.
More of these stories need to be told - by the people who lived through them.
June 25, 2018
Set in Kenya at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, this novel explains how the disease spread through ignorance and folk beliefs due to lack of education. What I liked so much about this book is the main character, Auma, who is strong and never gives up her dream of becoming a doctor by continuing her education and running track. She has to deal with many setbacks, but always manages to find a solution. This book would combine nicely with Allan Statton’s Chanda’s Secret and Unity Dow’s Far and Beyon’. Highly recommended.
November 11, 2017
Wow
Just wow
I will write a longer post later but this book was incredible.
This should be the Newbery.
Just wow
I will write a longer post later but this book was incredible.
This should be the Newbery.
September 24, 2017
"It was only now I realized that women wailed more on account of everything they never had the chance to say. All of the questions they never asked. All the times we never really talked about the things that mattered most. It was the one time that women could be angry. Be loud. Yell. Purge the soul. And no one thought less of them. Everyone expected it."
Reading Auma's Long Run by Eucabeth A. Odhiambo was a window into a time and place about which I didn't know much. Auma is the twelve-year-old oldest daughter who lives in a town in Kenya in the 1980s. Her life has been comfortable up until this point: her father works in Nairobi and sends enough money back home for her family to eat, she does well in school, and she hasn't experienced much death in her life. But when the "Slim" disease starts causing more and more deaths, Auma's life changes rapidly.
In Auma's Long Run, Auma confronts misconceptions about AIDS, the tradeoff between investing in your future and providing for the present, and complex gender expectations in a society in which she doesn't know if she believes what most of the people in her town believe.
I loved Auma's independent spirit and her refusal to sacrifice her own dreams of becoming a doctor to become what everyone expects her to become-- a wife. She's a wonderful role model who faces the challenge of achieving her own goals while still taking care of her family, and the book offers a realistic image of the challenges she faces to achieve a goal life hers. Since the first part of the book and a key part of the plot is Auma's track prowess, I would have expected moments in the narrative to be centered around her running, but at times, it felt like those moments were "fast-fowarded."
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to middle school readers looking for a reading experience that is most likely unlike their own. Because the discussion of AIDS is a focal point of the novel, there is some discussion of how it's contracted and misconceptions about how it can be cured, but it's done so in a very age-appropriate way.
Reading Auma's Long Run by Eucabeth A. Odhiambo was a window into a time and place about which I didn't know much. Auma is the twelve-year-old oldest daughter who lives in a town in Kenya in the 1980s. Her life has been comfortable up until this point: her father works in Nairobi and sends enough money back home for her family to eat, she does well in school, and she hasn't experienced much death in her life. But when the "Slim" disease starts causing more and more deaths, Auma's life changes rapidly.
In Auma's Long Run, Auma confronts misconceptions about AIDS, the tradeoff between investing in your future and providing for the present, and complex gender expectations in a society in which she doesn't know if she believes what most of the people in her town believe.
I loved Auma's independent spirit and her refusal to sacrifice her own dreams of becoming a doctor to become what everyone expects her to become-- a wife. She's a wonderful role model who faces the challenge of achieving her own goals while still taking care of her family, and the book offers a realistic image of the challenges she faces to achieve a goal life hers. Since the first part of the book and a key part of the plot is Auma's track prowess, I would have expected moments in the narrative to be centered around her running, but at times, it felt like those moments were "fast-fowarded."
I would whole-heartedly recommend this book to middle school readers looking for a reading experience that is most likely unlike their own. Because the discussion of AIDS is a focal point of the novel, there is some discussion of how it's contracted and misconceptions about how it can be cured, but it's done so in a very age-appropriate way.
February 2, 2018
This book for middle grade kids was simply incredible. It sucks you straight into the life of 13-year-old Auma, a Kenyan girl living in a small Luo village in the 1980s. She has big dreams and an even bigger heart, but the looming menace of AIDS wrecks havoc on her life. Auma's fortitude and perseverance are beautiful and inspirational. Highly recommended.
August 27, 2021
Heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, emotionally captivating book! I felt for Auma, I cried with Auma, and I rooted for Auma, hoping beyond hope that she could overcome unbeatable, unbearable obstacles and not only survive, but thrive.
Auma's story gives paints a painfully vivid picture of and gives us insight into the AIDS-devastation that in the 1980s swept not only Auma's Kenyan village, but Africa and the world. Particularly frustrating are all the misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the epidemic in Auma's village, and the lack of information and resources to deal with it.
But above all, this is a story about perseverance , determination, and hope -- hope that pushes through tragedy, loss, sickness, and poverty.
I can highly recommend this wonderful book to anyone (12+).
I received a copy of this book from Lerner Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Auma's story gives paints a painfully vivid picture of and gives us insight into the AIDS-devastation that in the 1980s swept not only Auma's Kenyan village, but Africa and the world. Particularly frustrating are all the misconceptions and misinformation surrounding the epidemic in Auma's village, and the lack of information and resources to deal with it.
But above all, this is a story about perseverance , determination, and hope -- hope that pushes through tragedy, loss, sickness, and poverty.
I can highly recommend this wonderful book to anyone (12+).
I received a copy of this book from Lerner Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 30, 2017
It's good and even more effective, by which I mean: though I think someone could find things to criticize in this if they were so inclined, I don't think they matter so much as far as the book's impact goes.
November 6, 2017
The author, Eucabeth A. Odhiambo grew up in Kenya in the 80's and 90's and knows the culture first hand. She states culture varies village to village, but this book is a good representation of life in parts of Africa. The story points out how and not in your face manner, much we have and how little we must do to have the basics needs for life. To them a rare luxury is a piece of fish, soap, or a a sweet treat called nuguru. Nuguru is caramel -flavoured unrefined sugar made from the juices of crushed sugarcane.
There is something going on in the little Koromo village. We learn of the tragedy through Auma’s eyes. This is the dawn of the AIDS epidemic and no one really knows what to do for those infected. They are stigmatised and doomed to a endure slow and painful death.
The villagers call the disease “Slim” and believe it only affects “sinners”. But why are so many innocent folks dying, even young children. It is all so confusing for the villagers. There is a witch doctor in the village. Auma's family practice a strong Christian faith and believe the witch doctor is simply an evil unit in their midst. Auma's faith is shaken after close loved ones get sick and she visits the witch doctor in a desperate attempt to save them. This was a creepy depiction and I'm sure realistic view into the witch doctor's hut.
This book puts the reader right there in the small, tight, African village called Koromo. The days are spent cleaning, collecting, gathering the supplies needed to sustain life in a most basic way. School is valued, but there is a monetary cost to attend. One also must pass tests to advance to the next level. Students are punished often with canning for infractions of simply being late. Females are treated harshly by male teachers.
Females are expected to marry at a young age and begin having children and living a life of hard labour. This is not for Auma. She wants to get an education and become a doctor. She plans to return to Koromo with a cure to save her people. She avoids boys at all costs in the attempt to avoid marriage. Auma's parents support this dream, but not her traditional grandmother.
It is heart breaking to watch the odds stack up against Auma. She remains determined to obtain her education but can she now, that she is the provider for her 3 younger siblings and grandmother.
Auma’s Long Run will not only warm the heart. It will open the eyes of the reader to the privileges most enjoy with very little sacrifice. I highly recommend this book; with its simple text and thoughtfulness, Auma’s Long Run is a story that I believe will stay with the reader for a long while, and maybe even spark interest in learning more about this continent.
This is a terrific story with an unforgettable protagonist.
Auma's quote: I won’t let you down, Mama. And I won’t let myself down.
There is something going on in the little Koromo village. We learn of the tragedy through Auma’s eyes. This is the dawn of the AIDS epidemic and no one really knows what to do for those infected. They are stigmatised and doomed to a endure slow and painful death.
The villagers call the disease “Slim” and believe it only affects “sinners”. But why are so many innocent folks dying, even young children. It is all so confusing for the villagers. There is a witch doctor in the village. Auma's family practice a strong Christian faith and believe the witch doctor is simply an evil unit in their midst. Auma's faith is shaken after close loved ones get sick and she visits the witch doctor in a desperate attempt to save them. This was a creepy depiction and I'm sure realistic view into the witch doctor's hut.
This book puts the reader right there in the small, tight, African village called Koromo. The days are spent cleaning, collecting, gathering the supplies needed to sustain life in a most basic way. School is valued, but there is a monetary cost to attend. One also must pass tests to advance to the next level. Students are punished often with canning for infractions of simply being late. Females are treated harshly by male teachers.
Females are expected to marry at a young age and begin having children and living a life of hard labour. This is not for Auma. She wants to get an education and become a doctor. She plans to return to Koromo with a cure to save her people. She avoids boys at all costs in the attempt to avoid marriage. Auma's parents support this dream, but not her traditional grandmother.
It is heart breaking to watch the odds stack up against Auma. She remains determined to obtain her education but can she now, that she is the provider for her 3 younger siblings and grandmother.
Auma’s Long Run will not only warm the heart. It will open the eyes of the reader to the privileges most enjoy with very little sacrifice. I highly recommend this book; with its simple text and thoughtfulness, Auma’s Long Run is a story that I believe will stay with the reader for a long while, and maybe even spark interest in learning more about this continent.
This is a terrific story with an unforgettable protagonist.
Auma's quote: I won’t let you down, Mama. And I won’t let myself down.
August 25, 2017
An incredible read. A book that I will buy, recommend, and share.
In 1980's Kenya, 13-year-old Auma wants answers: Why is her father not returning to his job in the city? What is causing this mysterious illness that people in the village call Slim? Why is her mother silent and withdrawn after taking Auma's father to the doctor? The one place where Auma can get answers is school, a place where the teachers are strict (students get hit with a cane in the back of the legs if they are late, "no excuses" is the rule), but at least they give the students accurate information about the transmission and inevitable course of AIDS. Auma faces the daily struggle of keeping her siblings in school and alive after the suffering and deaths of first her father and then her mother. Auma and her mother have their most difficult, honest, and courageous conversation near the end of her mother's life.
The author, Eucabeth A. Odhiambo, draws from her own experiences and her work with children affected by AIDS in Kenya. She calls these children heroes, and children like Auma have the fortitude and courage to survive and to keep their siblings alive as well. My hope is that Odhiambo continues writing Auma's story and that we find out if she fulfills her dream to become a doctor dedicated to helping her people fight AIDS.
Odhiambo's writing is genuine, clear, even. We get a clear sense of the struggles that children and women face in a society that gives them few options, but the story is uplifting. Auma relies on her best friend, her grandmother, and other women in the community to prevail in getting an education and a track scholarship.
I am pre-ordering a copy to share with teachers, librarians, and teens.
In 1980's Kenya, 13-year-old Auma wants answers: Why is her father not returning to his job in the city? What is causing this mysterious illness that people in the village call Slim? Why is her mother silent and withdrawn after taking Auma's father to the doctor? The one place where Auma can get answers is school, a place where the teachers are strict (students get hit with a cane in the back of the legs if they are late, "no excuses" is the rule), but at least they give the students accurate information about the transmission and inevitable course of AIDS. Auma faces the daily struggle of keeping her siblings in school and alive after the suffering and deaths of first her father and then her mother. Auma and her mother have their most difficult, honest, and courageous conversation near the end of her mother's life.
The author, Eucabeth A. Odhiambo, draws from her own experiences and her work with children affected by AIDS in Kenya. She calls these children heroes, and children like Auma have the fortitude and courage to survive and to keep their siblings alive as well. My hope is that Odhiambo continues writing Auma's story and that we find out if she fulfills her dream to become a doctor dedicated to helping her people fight AIDS.
Odhiambo's writing is genuine, clear, even. We get a clear sense of the struggles that children and women face in a society that gives them few options, but the story is uplifting. Auma relies on her best friend, her grandmother, and other women in the community to prevail in getting an education and a track scholarship.
I am pre-ordering a copy to share with teachers, librarians, and teens.
September 25, 2017
Haunting but inspirational, AUMA'S LONG RUN reminds readers that the world is bigger than what we can see, and that challenges are profoundly different throughout the world.
Thanks to the publisher for the signed galley of this title provided through a giveaway.
Set in 1980's Kenya during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Odhiambo draws on her own experiences living in a village such as Auma's to highlight the way that the disease completely ravaged the country, and still continues to do so.
This is a vitally important story, and written in a way that makes it accessible to teens. However, this is very much a middle SCHOOL book rather than middle GRADE. I would not recommend this for grades lower than 7th, based on the sexual content addressed throughout the story. As a school librarian, I would recommend this book for grades 7-12, placing it the YA category. It is NOT a book I would purchase for my elementary school library. In addition, this is a book that may not fly off shelves but requires teacher introduction and would be an incredible whole class read aloud.
Verdict: Heartbreaking and required reading, but may need adult urging to get it into the hands of kids. Recommended purchase for upper middle school and high school classrooms and libraries.
Thanks to the publisher for the signed galley of this title provided through a giveaway.
Set in 1980's Kenya during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Odhiambo draws on her own experiences living in a village such as Auma's to highlight the way that the disease completely ravaged the country, and still continues to do so.
This is a vitally important story, and written in a way that makes it accessible to teens. However, this is very much a middle SCHOOL book rather than middle GRADE. I would not recommend this for grades lower than 7th, based on the sexual content addressed throughout the story. As a school librarian, I would recommend this book for grades 7-12, placing it the YA category. It is NOT a book I would purchase for my elementary school library. In addition, this is a book that may not fly off shelves but requires teacher introduction and would be an incredible whole class read aloud.
Verdict: Heartbreaking and required reading, but may need adult urging to get it into the hands of kids. Recommended purchase for upper middle school and high school classrooms and libraries.
May 23, 2017
All the respect to Eucabeth Odhiambo, a teacher of teachers, for writing this powerful book for young readers about a monumentally serious subject: the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and its effects on a generation of orphans. As seen through the eyes of frightened yet capable 13-year old Auma, who lives in a small village in Kenya, where she and her best friend Abeth attend KaPeter Primary School. I loved how Auma's parents spoke to her in ways that made her feel loved and special, but also motivated her to work hard. I noted with appreciation how her brothers, though clearly growing into young men, were not too proud to help their sisters with what's considered women's work. It is such a shame that plagues do happen, and that survivors are made to suffer and sacrifice, but somehow still this book is actually uplifting!
April 12, 2018
Although it is certainly true that education is a reliable avenue out of poverty, it also comes at a heavy price and requires great resilience as this novel by a new author shows. Auma lives in a small Luo village in Kenya with her parents and her siblings. Since it is the 1980s AIDS and HIV are just starting to make their effects felt. She is an excellent runner and studies hard, dreaming that her athletic talent and her academic performance might earn her a scholarship to secondary school, which will eventually lead to her becoming a doctor. Auma's mother has always depended on her to help with the other children, but she still has free time to spend with her best friend, also a runner. Things change, though, when Auma's father returns home from the city where he has been working. He is tired, keeps losing weight, and stays in bed most of the time, never being able to summon the energy to return to his job. As others in her village die of a disease they never call by its name, false information, gossip, and superstitions swirl around the deceased. When Auma's father dies, many villagers come to honor him, but they consume the family's food stores, and it becomes clear that her mother is also ill. Although Auma has suspected that her father died as the result of AIDS/HIV, she only comes to fully understand the disease during a school lesson. Readers will be inspired by her determination to keep up with her schooling despite the challenges and the odds stacked against her. The author paints a vivid portrait of hunger and poverty and the embarrassment Auma experiences because she is an orphan and lacks the resources of others. Try though she might, it is impossible to care for her mother and siblings, make money for their food, and attend school, and she is constantly torn between what she wants to do and what she needs to do. The secrecy surrounding this disease and some of the so-called cures that led to desperate behavior on the part of some of her neighbors add authenticity to the story. I also liked how Auma resisted being married off to some man in order to solve the family's financial woes and how she somehow sorted things out for her. By the time I finished the book, I was exhausted emotionally as though I had run several marathons when all I had to do was turn a few pages. I was also left with a deep, abiding respect for this young woman whose long run to victory and something better than what others had in mind for her was achieved through schooling. By succeeding in her ambitions, she could certainly give back to others.
Shelved as 'notes-on-unfinished-books'
November 19, 2017Notes on the first 32 pages & Why I put it down
I was pumped for this book. Kenya and AIDS are topics I've never seen in a kids' book. Reviews were positive, and the author is a professional educator. Yet, I found myself reluctant to pick it back up after each chapter and giving out a deep sigh each time I began a new one. What went wrong?
There is nothing wrong with the writing on a technical level. The setting is described in an accessible way. Characters are three dimensional, their traits are revealed through words and action, and they interact meaningfully. The pace is reasonable; lots of stuff happens in thirty pages. Somehow, it still did nothing for me.
An interesting comparison is Lucky Broken Girl. The two books are similar. They are about young girls from non-white cultures negotiating cultural, family and school environments. Both protagonists face major obstacles. Yet I find myself enjoying Lucky Broken Girl, whereas I probably won't finish Auma's Long Run. What makes Lucky Broken Girl special?
I'd say it is the voice and the management of crisis. In LBG, the author, Ruth Behar, makes frequent use of dialogue, and her dialogue is very naturalistic and snappy. The snappiest page of dialogue thus far in Auma's Long Run is page 20, in which only one speech is less than a line long. This style bogs down the character growth and causes the author to feel more obtrusive.
Also, LBG starts out with those great first lines about being dumb in America because she doesn't speak English. Even though the "placed in the wrong class" problem is solved in the first 30 pages of LBG, it has the feeling of something that will linger and lead to deeper problems. I kept reading to find out how it would develop. On the other hand, Auma's Long Run opens with Auma being scolded for running slowly. This did not feel like an urgent issue to me. I figured she would just practice more and get faster. It also feels like small potatoes to worry about track meets while you're waiting for the AIDS plotline to drop.
Thus, ALR is an okay book that I don't hate but probably won't revisit.
I was pumped for this book. Kenya and AIDS are topics I've never seen in a kids' book. Reviews were positive, and the author is a professional educator. Yet, I found myself reluctant to pick it back up after each chapter and giving out a deep sigh each time I began a new one. What went wrong?
There is nothing wrong with the writing on a technical level. The setting is described in an accessible way. Characters are three dimensional, their traits are revealed through words and action, and they interact meaningfully. The pace is reasonable; lots of stuff happens in thirty pages. Somehow, it still did nothing for me.
An interesting comparison is Lucky Broken Girl. The two books are similar. They are about young girls from non-white cultures negotiating cultural, family and school environments. Both protagonists face major obstacles. Yet I find myself enjoying Lucky Broken Girl, whereas I probably won't finish Auma's Long Run. What makes Lucky Broken Girl special?
I'd say it is the voice and the management of crisis. In LBG, the author, Ruth Behar, makes frequent use of dialogue, and her dialogue is very naturalistic and snappy. The snappiest page of dialogue thus far in Auma's Long Run is page 20, in which only one speech is less than a line long. This style bogs down the character growth and causes the author to feel more obtrusive.
Also, LBG starts out with those great first lines about being dumb in America because she doesn't speak English. Even though the "placed in the wrong class" problem is solved in the first 30 pages of LBG, it has the feeling of something that will linger and lead to deeper problems. I kept reading to find out how it would develop. On the other hand, Auma's Long Run opens with Auma being scolded for running slowly. This did not feel like an urgent issue to me. I figured she would just practice more and get faster. It also feels like small potatoes to worry about track meets while you're waiting for the AIDS plotline to drop.
Thus, ALR is an okay book that I don't hate but probably won't revisit.
July 1, 2017
*Thanks to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* 'Auma's Long Run' tells the story of a young Kenyan girl, Auma growing up in the village of Koromo in the 1980s, just as the HIV/AIDS epidemic is beginning to take hold. Auma is the eldest of four children and she must balance her duties to her family, with her desire to get a track scholarship to high school and go on to become a doctor. The novel is told from Auma's perspective and deals with the stigma and false information surrounding the disease, which the villagers refer to as 'Slim,' due to its impact on the sufferers' bodies. It also looks at the struggle of young girls like Auma who have to fight cultural expectations and traditions if they wish to get an education. At times heart-wrenching and others, uplifting. A recommended read for both teenagers and adults.
December 17, 2017
The adults of Auma’s Kenyan village are dying and no one understands why. “Our homes smell like death. Our village will soon be filled with only children.” Auma, who dreams of becoming a doctor, is frightened and confused, and when her own parents grow ill, her determination to save her people knows no bounds. The complex life of a girl in a contemporary Kenyan village is made vivid and compelling: the joys of friends and family alongside the burdens of poverty, the obstacles to education, and the constricting roles of women. Auma must make compromises, yet a reader never doubts she will refuse to let her past determine her future. In an afterword, the author describes the Kenyan HIV/AIDS crisis and the tragic plight of the many orphans left behind. Looking forward to more work from Odhiambo!
August 22, 2017
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book for review.
This was a very good debut story, clearly written by someone who knows what she's writing about (as the author note states, she was in Kenya in the 80's during the start of the AIDS epidemic.) It's not an easy read - heartbreaking at times, but also hopeful. The characters are well written. The culture in Africa during this time period really came to life. Quite a lot to discuss if read by kids - everyone had to pay to go to school, HIV/AIDS and how it was perceived in Africa vs. here in the US/Western world, poverty/hunger and how it affects families, the pervasive misogynistic culture...the list is long. The story overall is well done. I do think that the writing seemed a bit simplistic (middle-grade-ish) considering I feel the topics make it more for teens, but overall well done and I am glad I read this.
This was a very good debut story, clearly written by someone who knows what she's writing about (as the author note states, she was in Kenya in the 80's during the start of the AIDS epidemic.) It's not an easy read - heartbreaking at times, but also hopeful. The characters are well written. The culture in Africa during this time period really came to life. Quite a lot to discuss if read by kids - everyone had to pay to go to school, HIV/AIDS and how it was perceived in Africa vs. here in the US/Western world, poverty/hunger and how it affects families, the pervasive misogynistic culture...the list is long. The story overall is well done. I do think that the writing seemed a bit simplistic (middle-grade-ish) considering I feel the topics make it more for teens, but overall well done and I am glad I read this.
October 21, 2017
A heart-breaking account of the recent Pandemic sweeping Africa and the world in the 1980s. Uncompromising in its devastation.
However the expository narrative keeps the reader removed from the emotion. Amua never seems like she is immersed in her world. The first person narrative self-consciously tells the reader about village life of Komoro in pedantic explanations, rather than showing us through deft descriptions.
However the expository narrative keeps the reader removed from the emotion. Amua never seems like she is immersed in her world. The first person narrative self-consciously tells the reader about village life of Komoro in pedantic explanations, rather than showing us through deft descriptions.
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May 20, 2019Auma's a girl from Nigaria. Her parents were more wealthy then others. Auma didn't like the idea of girls being house wives. Auma always dreamed to be a doctor. Auma was almost dead when she was born, but she survived. She was stronger then many other kids. She was very fast at running. Many people from Auma's country dies everyday. Auma's mom soon have HIV, and Auma had a difficult time.
February 22, 2018
I liked this. But I didn't love it. Maybe I went into the book too hopeful.
June 25, 2017
I didn't expect to read this book so quickly, but I gulped it down in one super fast read. I was completely engrossed by Auma's story and how completely different her life is from mine. Odhiambo tackles some tough subjects: AIDS, attempted rape, death, and overwhelming poverty. Surprisingly though, I found this book inspirational rather than depressing. The descriptions of everyday life in rural Kenya were fascinating; watching Auma and her family's struggle with their newfound belief in Christ versus their traditional beliefs especially so. Highly recommended for those who like reading about life in other places and for those who like books with strong female protagonists.
October 27, 2017
Auma lives in a remote village in Kenya. She loves to run and is hoping to get a track scholarship so that she can attend secondary school. Her dream is to become a doctor someday. However, when her dad gets really sick and many people in her village start dying, her dream seems to become less and less of a possibility.
Although set at the onset of the AIDS crisis, this still feels very contemporary. The author lived in Kenya at the time, so details are accurate and reliable. While it is overall a story of hope and determination, there is also sadness and fear. There is an attempted rape scene but it is brief and not graphic.
Grades 5-9
Although set at the onset of the AIDS crisis, this still feels very contemporary. The author lived in Kenya at the time, so details are accurate and reliable. While it is overall a story of hope and determination, there is also sadness and fear. There is an attempted rape scene but it is brief and not graphic.
Grades 5-9
May 13, 2017
From the beginning this book does a wonderful job of imagery, which will be jarringly unfamiliar for American children. At the beginning of the book, Auma lives relatively happily in her family compound (although she is beaten by a teacher for not finishing a race fast enough) amidst the unexplained deaths happening in her village. Auma isn't like most other girls in her village (where the school has no electricity). She wants to become a doctor, which will require her to leave the area and earn a scholarship. The AIDS epidemic is invading her rural village, but no ones knows what exactly how the disease is spread, although whispered rumors abound. Life for Auma changes drastically after her own father dies of AIDS and her mother also becomes ill. Her family's situation is desperate, and Auma tries to keep everything together for her siblings. Nothing about her life is easy or fair--her mother confides to her that her father had a mistress in the city that had given him AIDS and he'd infected her as well. Auma has to reconcile her anger and feelings of betrayal while figuring out a way to help her remaining family survive without completely abandoning her dreams.
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley
*I received a copy of this book from NetGalley
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2017
I highly recommend Auma's Long Run by Eucabeth Odhiambo: Beautiful historical fiction about resilience, family, loss, & racing after your dreams!
I am looking forward to sharing this story set in Kenya during the AIDS epidemic with my students throughout the school year and discussing it with colleagues at our staff book club in March!
I am looking forward to sharing this story set in Kenya during the AIDS epidemic with my students throughout the school year and discussing it with colleagues at our staff book club in March!
August 31, 2017
I reviewed this for SLJ and gave it a star. Auma's story is compelling and the book does a good job showing what the beginning of the AIDS epidemic was like when it was known as "slim" in Kenya and mysteriously killing villagers. Realistic historical fiction recommended for grades 6 and up.
August 2, 2017
Amazing story of resilience. Set in Kenya in the 1980s at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, a young girl is torn between family obligations, cultural norms, and her dreams of becoming a doctor.
March 30, 2018
Auma is in year 7 in her village school in Kenya. Most girls Auma's age are preparing to get married soon and start lives as wives and mothers after year 8. But Auma has bigger dreams. She's determined to beat the odds, make it to high school, and go on to become a doctor who will come back to help the people of her village. She knows her family is too poor to afford high school, so her speed in track is her one hope to sustain her dreams. She hopes she can do well in her final years of track and get a scholarship for high school. But life during her years 7 and 8 is anything but smooth for Auma. Her Baba comes back from his job in Nairobi suddenly and proceeds to get weaker and weaker. It seems to be the same strange illness which has claimed more and more people in the village. Funerals used to be rare events, but now there two to three a week, and it seems to always be the adults and the babies. The school age children and the elderly are the ones avoiding it, opposite of how diseases normally claim victims. Auma craves a better understanding of the disease, and she finally gets a little bit of it in school. They call it AIDS/HIV, the villagers call it Slim, and what she hears in school about how it spreads is very different from the rumors in the village about Slim. As Auma watches the disease destroy people she loves, she struggles to keep her dream alive while helping her family survive.
Make sure you read the author's note in the back of the book about being a child in a village in Kenya during the 1980s and seeing AIDS/HIV start destroying villages, and then coming back to Kenya to educate villagers about the truth of AIDS/HIV while combatting long held erroneous beliefs about the disease. This was a tactfully written and eye-opening look about what it was really like for a smart girl growing up in a village in Kenya in the 80s & 90s. It is by turns tragic, heartbreaking, and inspirational. If you want middle schoolers and high schoolers to realize how much they take education and daily food and basic medical care for granted, this read is a great wake up call. If you want a good fiction/nonfiction read pair, read this with I Will Always Write Back as both explore what life in an African country for a tween/teen can look like, and what a tremendous battle is ahead of such a person who wants education. Auma is a very likable main character. And though her setting and circumstances are foreign for most readers, she's also wrestling with relatable problems like what her future will be, homework, managing changing friendships and sibling relationships, having trouble communicating with her parents, and wrestling with what she personally believes spiritually (her mother has become a Christian but Auma wrestles with whether He hears her prayers and whether or not to visit the local witchdoctor). Given the title, I really expected more about running in the book but the focus is more on Auma's home life, track is just a part of her life that occasionally comes up. There aren't a whole lot of books out there for tweens and teens on how AIDS has impacted daily life for people their age or whole villages. Perhaps this will motivate a future scientist to explore this problem and find the cure.
Notes on content: No language issues beyond some name calling. There are no sex scenes and no descriptions of what sex is. The word sex is used a handful of times as sexually transmitted diseases are brought up in school, and then as the villagers are discussing the AIDS/HIV spread. Infidelity is an issue in the village, but again, all they say is people were sleeping with others not their spouses. No details. Auma is not allowed to go collect wood or water by herself because a common rumor was the men who had AIDS could get well by sleeping with a virgin. (That's all the book says about it, no details of what this really means.) Two men appear threateningly during the course of the book, it is only hinted what they are after, but they never lay a hand on Auma thanks to her brothers and her fast feet. Auma gets her first period at one point and it just says she has some blood on her dress and that she's now a woman. All of the sexually-related content is handled very tactfully and professionally (as you'd expect from a woman who has education experience and experience talking about these topics with the target age group) and should be fine for upper middle school on up. The goal of all the talk is to avoid more spread but it just stops at the point of telling HIV is spread through bodily fluids in a variety of possible ways and tells this in innocent middle schooler terms, the usual extension of this talk with further details like contraception and such don't even come up. Auma herself is so focused on her goal she wants nothing to do with boys or marriage. Death is very real, and Auma watches two people beloved to her get very weak, develop sores, and die from the disease. A fall results in some bloody scratches, a flaming branch is swung and connects with an intruder. Other deaths in the village are mentioned, but no other violence.
Make sure you read the author's note in the back of the book about being a child in a village in Kenya during the 1980s and seeing AIDS/HIV start destroying villages, and then coming back to Kenya to educate villagers about the truth of AIDS/HIV while combatting long held erroneous beliefs about the disease. This was a tactfully written and eye-opening look about what it was really like for a smart girl growing up in a village in Kenya in the 80s & 90s. It is by turns tragic, heartbreaking, and inspirational. If you want middle schoolers and high schoolers to realize how much they take education and daily food and basic medical care for granted, this read is a great wake up call. If you want a good fiction/nonfiction read pair, read this with I Will Always Write Back as both explore what life in an African country for a tween/teen can look like, and what a tremendous battle is ahead of such a person who wants education. Auma is a very likable main character. And though her setting and circumstances are foreign for most readers, she's also wrestling with relatable problems like what her future will be, homework, managing changing friendships and sibling relationships, having trouble communicating with her parents, and wrestling with what she personally believes spiritually (her mother has become a Christian but Auma wrestles with whether He hears her prayers and whether or not to visit the local witchdoctor). Given the title, I really expected more about running in the book but the focus is more on Auma's home life, track is just a part of her life that occasionally comes up. There aren't a whole lot of books out there for tweens and teens on how AIDS has impacted daily life for people their age or whole villages. Perhaps this will motivate a future scientist to explore this problem and find the cure.
Notes on content: No language issues beyond some name calling. There are no sex scenes and no descriptions of what sex is. The word sex is used a handful of times as sexually transmitted diseases are brought up in school, and then as the villagers are discussing the AIDS/HIV spread. Infidelity is an issue in the village, but again, all they say is people were sleeping with others not their spouses. No details. Auma is not allowed to go collect wood or water by herself because a common rumor was the men who had AIDS could get well by sleeping with a virgin. (That's all the book says about it, no details of what this really means.) Two men appear threateningly during the course of the book, it is only hinted what they are after, but they never lay a hand on Auma thanks to her brothers and her fast feet. Auma gets her first period at one point and it just says she has some blood on her dress and that she's now a woman. All of the sexually-related content is handled very tactfully and professionally (as you'd expect from a woman who has education experience and experience talking about these topics with the target age group) and should be fine for upper middle school on up. The goal of all the talk is to avoid more spread but it just stops at the point of telling HIV is spread through bodily fluids in a variety of possible ways and tells this in innocent middle schooler terms, the usual extension of this talk with further details like contraception and such don't even come up. Auma herself is so focused on her goal she wants nothing to do with boys or marriage. Death is very real, and Auma watches two people beloved to her get very weak, develop sores, and die from the disease. A fall results in some bloody scratches, a flaming branch is swung and connects with an intruder. Other deaths in the village are mentioned, but no other violence.
August 28, 2017
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I received an ARC of Auma’s Long Run through NetGalley. I chose to request this book because I was looking for some diverse middle grade fiction and the blurb caught my interest.
This book is #ownvoices for Kenyan representation.
__
Wow. This book is really heavy, it doesn’t try to make the situation around AIDS seem better than it was. The story takes place around the time in which AIDS started to spread in Kenya.
The women and men are treated very differently in Auma’s village. Auma wants to become a doctor, but that dream seems far away, since she’s a girl, and some people think she should be getting married instead. Her comments about sexism are something that will make you laugh and frown; laugh because they’re quite sarcastic, and frown because you want to help her out of the respective situation. One part that I liked a lot is where she contemplated whether men that cry are weak or if they’re actually the stronger ones.
Throughout the story, while growing up, Auma realises that sometimes adults don’t know all of the answers. I think that any middle-grader can profit from reading about Auma’s realisation, because it’s something that children usually aren’t told. Sometimes adults won’t know the answer, and you, as a child, could find it out before the adults. Adults aren’t always correct even if they say they are.
There was an interesting scene about begging and the misconceptions about being a beggar. I thought this was a great addition to an already very educational book.
While Auma is studying for school and a chance to acheive her dreams, more people have been getting sick due to unknown causes. I thought it was really interesting that the villagers called this illness Slim and not AIDS. I’ve never thought about what people who were affected by AIDS called the disease before it was called AIDS.
I wish there had been more scenes with Abuya, a classmate of Auma’s, as I feel like we only caught glimpses of his situation and never fully knew how he felt about certain things.
I thought it was interesting how the daily routine of running to school ended up being one the main things that influenced her life. I liked that the author kept it as one of the main plotlines and that it tied up with the ending. The ending was beautiful, it’s an open ending but I feel like there is one highly possible conclusion to Auma’s trip and the ending I’m imagining is a lovely conclusion to the story.
__
I very much recommend reading this book. It’s suitable for middle-grade readers, and I thought that the writing was age-appropriate. Some of the scenes are very heavy though, so if you feel like you might not be ready for it, then I would suggest not reading it or waiting for a while. This is a book that would benefit from an in-depth discussion, which is why I would suggest it for a children’s book club or a voluntary classroom/library group read.
Auma’s Long Run is the kind of book that I’m thinking of when I talk about books that educate through fiction. Readers will follow this captivating story and only realise afterwards that they have been received knowledge while reading.
Trigger warnings: physical abuse, death, AIDS, terminal illness.
I received an ARC of Auma’s Long Run through NetGalley. I chose to request this book because I was looking for some diverse middle grade fiction and the blurb caught my interest.
This book is #ownvoices for Kenyan representation.
__
Wow. This book is really heavy, it doesn’t try to make the situation around AIDS seem better than it was. The story takes place around the time in which AIDS started to spread in Kenya.
The women and men are treated very differently in Auma’s village. Auma wants to become a doctor, but that dream seems far away, since she’s a girl, and some people think she should be getting married instead. Her comments about sexism are something that will make you laugh and frown; laugh because they’re quite sarcastic, and frown because you want to help her out of the respective situation. One part that I liked a lot is where she contemplated whether men that cry are weak or if they’re actually the stronger ones.
Throughout the story, while growing up, Auma realises that sometimes adults don’t know all of the answers. I think that any middle-grader can profit from reading about Auma’s realisation, because it’s something that children usually aren’t told. Sometimes adults won’t know the answer, and you, as a child, could find it out before the adults. Adults aren’t always correct even if they say they are.
There was an interesting scene about begging and the misconceptions about being a beggar. I thought this was a great addition to an already very educational book.
While Auma is studying for school and a chance to acheive her dreams, more people have been getting sick due to unknown causes. I thought it was really interesting that the villagers called this illness Slim and not AIDS. I’ve never thought about what people who were affected by AIDS called the disease before it was called AIDS.
I wish there had been more scenes with Abuya, a classmate of Auma’s, as I feel like we only caught glimpses of his situation and never fully knew how he felt about certain things.
I thought it was interesting how the daily routine of running to school ended up being one the main things that influenced her life. I liked that the author kept it as one of the main plotlines and that it tied up with the ending. The ending was beautiful, it’s an open ending but I feel like there is one highly possible conclusion to Auma’s trip and the ending I’m imagining is a lovely conclusion to the story.
__
I very much recommend reading this book. It’s suitable for middle-grade readers, and I thought that the writing was age-appropriate. Some of the scenes are very heavy though, so if you feel like you might not be ready for it, then I would suggest not reading it or waiting for a while. This is a book that would benefit from an in-depth discussion, which is why I would suggest it for a children’s book club or a voluntary classroom/library group read.
Auma’s Long Run is the kind of book that I’m thinking of when I talk about books that educate through fiction. Readers will follow this captivating story and only realise afterwards that they have been received knowledge while reading.
Trigger warnings: physical abuse, death, AIDS, terminal illness.
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