Glass Collector

January 23, 2012
A strong narrative voice captures multiple viewpoints of the “Zabbaleen,” Coptic Christian citizens of Cairo’s “Garbage City,” while closely following 15-year-old orphan Aaron, the title character, as he struggles through the challenges of daily survival. Perera (Guantanamo Boy) draws a vivid portrait of the community’s squalid living conditions, as people eat, sleep, and work amid piles of rotting garbage collected for recycling, while dreaming of better futures. Beautiful Shareen resists marriage to elderly, “wizened” Daniel; Jacob “longs to make a name for himself”; Rachel hopes to be a veterinarian; and Aaron, living in a tenement hovel with his hostile stepfather’s family, finds beauty in glass and dreams of one day owning a perfume shop. Meanwhile, stench, heat, filth, hunger, danger, physical pain, and grief from too many early deaths contrast with the “open, clean, beautiful lane leading to the limestone carvings and statues surrounding the church,” the institution that holds the community together. When Aaron’s stealing leads to ostracism, the people who correct him also protect him. A powerful rendering of human struggle, resilience, and hope. Ages 13–up. Agent: Charlie Viney, the Viney Agency.

January 15, 2012
A 15-year-old Coptic Christian struggles to survive on the outskirts of modern-day Cairo. As one of the Zabbaleen people who collect, sort and recycle the vast amounts of garbage generated in the capital, Aaron is at the bottom of Egyptian society. Yet, regardless of how the rest of the country may view them, the Zabbaleen live by a basic moral code: "Strive to do your best even in the worst conditions. Don't steal. Don't harm. Don't lie." Since his mother's death, Aaron is finding it more difficult to follow this code. He lives at the mercy of his negligent stepfather, Hosi. Dreaming of a more beautiful world, Aaron spends his days collecting glass from the alleys in the city and avoiding the blows and taunts of his stepbrother, Lijah. He navigates the narrow confines of his life, spending his little free time with his friends and trying to stay out of trouble. The wondrous bottles and aromas at Omar's Perfume Emporium beckon to him, and he finds himself stealing bottles and hiding them in the village. Perera takes teen readers into a new world in this often-eloquent novel, if they have the patience to savor the rich descriptions and wait for the plot to pick up speed. A novel of hope and redemption in the most unlikely of settings. (author's note) (Fiction. 13 & up)

COPYRIGHT(2012) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Aaron, 15, lives outside Cairo, Egypt. He is a Zabbaleen, one of the countless Christian garbage collectors who make a living by sorting and selling refuse for recycling. Aaron's specialty is glass collecting. Throughout the book, he struggles with being able to do the right thing and often fails. His close bonds with his family; friends; and Rachel, a Mokattam girl who cares for the garbage-cart ponies, are indicative of a tight-knit community. The oppressive environment of living in the filth and slop of a city is ever present. In fact, it is brought up so often, it feels more like the story is being told by a visitor who never acclimates to the conditions than by a native, born and living among the refuse. The descriptions of the mounds of oozing garbage are heavy-handed at times and tend to distract from the story's action and emotion. The pacing of the novel is uneven. Aaron seems to have multiple "epiphanies" that don't result in him changing his behavior in any significant way. In the end, with Rachel as his wife, Aaron learns that, despite its obvious shortcomings, he can be proud of the community in which he lives and works. Some of the characters are unevenly drawn; the strongest element of the story is the fact that the author wants readers to know who these people are and why they should be appreciated. For a moving, yet exciting story set in the world of garbage pickers, suggest Andy Mulligan's Trash (Random, 2010). The setting is still powerful, but that story will appeal to a much wider audience.-Karen Elliott, Grafton High School, WI

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2012
Grades 8-12 Fifteen-year-old Aaron lives in poverty-stricken Mokattam, a village of the Zabbaleen, who are collectors and recyclers of Cairo's garbage. Life at home with his stepfather and stepbrothers is tough, especially since his mother's death. Even though his work as a glass collector is often wretched and dangerous, Aaron finds solace and inspiration in the glass, through which the world appears shiny and clean. But when Aaron is caught stealing, he is shunned by both his family and villagers, and he undertakes desperate measures to survive. Through the sorrow and difficulties that ensue, Aaron comes to understand that compassion, generosity, and love can transform lives and bring appreciation for one's community and home. First published in Great Britain, this novel's descriptive, eloquent prose and diversely drawn characters portray the hardships facing Egypt's poor. This novel has contemporary, timely relevance, but Perera (Guantanamo Boy, 2011) also incorporates timeless themes of self-discovery, adapting to change, and how happiness and beauty can be found in the most unexpected places. Includes an author's note.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)