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Book of the Year: 2017-18 Theme: One World Book: One World: A Global Anthology of Short Stories “This attempt to redefine the border of the world we live in through the short story recognizes the many conflicting issues if race, language, economy, gender and ethnicity, which separate and limit us...(R)egardless of our differences or the disparities in our stories, are united by our humanity.” The stories explore issues around poverty, mental ill health, childhood, loss, war, depression, isolation, identity. All authors’ royalties went to Doctors Without Borders Reviewer: It sounds too simple, this idea that the world is one entity and unified. Yet, as I read the stories, I found concepts, themes, emotions, and types of relationship that travelled between stories, described common experience, conveyed issues that are understood cross-culturally, essentially because we are human.

Cost: Amazon $11.35 (several stories free online (see below) And/or copies in LC (for use with DLAs) and Library Collection of Stories: each with a brief biography of the author 

Leng Lui is for Pretty Lady by Elaine Chiew (Malaysia)….10 pages o Free online at http://www.storyglossia.com/27/ec_lenglui.html or https://books.google.com/books? id=qkwsrZl0jYQC&pg=PA9&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false o It is the story of Alina who is from Manila and works in Hong Kong as an amah for a rich family. We are given brief insight into the experiences of immigrant workers, separated from their families, and trapped in jobs that at times might subject them to abuse. The story is wonderfully written, full of character, chatter and noise, with a real sense of Alina's character in her voice.

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Kelemo’s Woman by Molara Wood (Nigeria)…..8 pages o Free online at: https://books.google.com/books? id=qkwsrZl0jYQC&pg=PA9&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false o It presents a moving story of Iriola, whose life is determined by her lover’s political activism. The story challenges our notions of fidelity and self-esteem when one is faced with the question of survival.

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The Way of the Machete by Martin A Ramos (Puerto Rico)…..11 pages o Free online at: https://books.google.com/books? id=qkwsrZl0jYQC&pg=PA9&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false o … the negativity of machoism is displayed. In a mortal battle, a family man with strong, masculine pride, takes on the town’s bully.

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Porcelain by Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa)…..7 ½ pages o Free online at: https://books.google.com/books? id=qkwsrZl0jYQC&pg=PA9&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false o It is a story of mothers, daughters, aunties and sisters. It shows how mental illness can be like the broken vases on the beach that the women try and jigsaw back together. It is a surprisingly gentle and brutal story. The imagery of the ocean, milkwood and broken pottery is beautiful.

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The Rich People’s School by Lauri Kubuitsile (Botswana)…..4 ½ pages o "The Rich People's School" by Lauri Kubuitsile is a wonderful story about the life of a young girl from Botswana whose life was totally changed when her mother married an American and left her daughter in the hands of her own mother so she could move to America…. Sylvia is enrolled in the Rich People's School.   The other students spot her as someone from a poor family, maybe the slums, and they mock her so much she hates the new school.   I do not want to tell more of the story as I want first time readers to enjoy the gentle wisdom of the Grandmother as much as I did.

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My Mother, the Crazy African by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)…..6 ½ pages o My Mother, The Crazy African is another story of immigrant experience, exploring the difficulties a child has growing up with two languages and cultures, and the clash between daughter and mother is devastating.

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Ishwari’s Children by Shabnam Nadiya (Bangladesh)…..7 ½ pages o Free online at: http://happano.sub.jp/happano/birdsong/html/8-shabnam-1.html

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Air Mail by Ravi Mangla (United States)…..4 ¼ pages o An American and an Indian boy become pen pals and learn about each other’s cultures.

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Growing My Hair Again by Chika Unigwe…..6 ¼ pages o Free online at : http://nollyculture.blogspot.com/2015/08/growing-my-hairagain.html o Following the murder of her abusive husband, Nneka has to take part in a mourning ritual overlooked by her domineering mother-in-law. Yet the procedure, requiring an ostentatious emotional involvement, contrasts deeply with her true feelings. The marriage, in which Nneka had to submit to her violent husband and suppress her personality, belongs to the past now and she savors her newly-gained freedom

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Honor of a Woman by Dipta Kwa (Cameroon)…..5 ½ pages o …reveals the literal truth in the proverb “you reap what you sow,” in the story, a mother and daughter face up to the consequences of their actions.

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The Kettle on the Boat by Vanessa Gebbie (Wales)…..5 pages

o … about the crisis with climate change and how it impacts the food chain resulting in an Inuit family relinquishing their eldest daughter. The author evokes a keen sense of sadness in the child’s description and confusion about the family leaving their home. 

Melancholy Nights in a Tokyo Cyber Café by Sequoia Nagamatsu (US)…..9 ½ pages o It deals beautifully with feelings of loneliness, isolation and the brief connections that occur between Akira and Yoshiko. There are so many references in this story, including an incident of group suicide in Japan, and the Sarin attacks that occurred in Tokyo. This painful desolate story will stay with you a long time, and grounds you in Tokyo with details of markets, Ueno Park, the internet café where Akira eats rice balls stuffed with tuna fish. 

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Among Strangers by Jude Dibia (Nigeria)…..5 ¼ pages o Free online at: https://www.africanwriter.com/among-strangers-a-short-story-by-judedibia/ o In the short story Among Strangers, Jude Dibia deals with the topic of a family with conflicts derived from the use of languages, some more prestigious than others

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A Boy and His Kite by Konstantinos Tzikas (Greece)…..4 pages

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Before Tonde, After Tonde by Petina Gappah (Zimbabwe)…..10 ½ pages o … brilliantly authentic. It mixes Parka jackets, EastEnders and playstation games with memories of living in Zimbabwe where maid Sisi-Annie sang songs in Chimbeti. A powerful story about family, identity, loss, it is unexpected, playful, and harsh.

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Retrenched by Ken N Kamoche (Kenya)…..8 ¼ pages o About layoffs and business reorganizations

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The Volunteer by Lucinda Nelson Dhavan (India)…..5 ¼ pages

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Fireweed by Skye Brannon (US)…..4 ½ pages

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Cow Hearted by Wadzanzi Mhute (Zimbabwe)…..4 ¼ pages

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Maryanne Clouds Today by Ivan Gabriel Rehorek (Australia)…..2 pages

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Homeless by Ovo Adagha (Nigeria)…..4 ½ pages o …a touching portrayal of a family that is forced to move into a slum. A demolition deprives them even of their dilapidated shack and leaves the family helplessly on the street.

The Albino by Adetokunbo Gvenga Abiola (Nigeria)…..11 ¼ pages o …the disgraceful persecution and abuse of albinos in Africa.

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The Third and Final Continent by Jhupa Lahiri (US)…..15 ¼ pages o The Third and Final Continent depicts some beautifully poignant moments between an Indian man who has arrived in America for the first time, and his 100 year old landlady.

Ideas for events: Perhaps before each event, read excerpts from one of the stories     

Talk to dance, art, film, drama departments to see if they can do something on theme of One World or based on one of the short stories Program on Climate Change (one of the stories is about climate change and it is a global issue) Ray Hicks or Japanese instructors talking about life in Japan Program on Mental Illness, group suicide, slavery of domestic workers, political activism and the personal price activists pay, homelessness/slums Essay contest on immigrant experience or o if you were an immigrant, what was your perception of the US before you got here and how did it change after