Auma's Long Run

June 1, 2017

Gr 5 Up-In this novel set in 1980s Kenya, HIV/AIDS ravages Auma's village and leaves her and her three siblings orphans. The girl's speed and good grades lead to a track scholarship at a provincial high school. Auma's life is at times overwhelmingly harsh, from her culture's low expectations for girls to the threat of starvation to the dangers she faces from village men. She aspires to become a doctor and help cure the disease; she wants to "find out what is killing our people, and once I find out, I will work to end it." Her grandmother, Dani, accuses Auma of being selfish because she refuses to be married at 15 and stay in the village to take care of her sister and brothers. Odhiambo grew up in Kenya and later studied HIV/AIDS education in Kenyan schools. She writes in the author's note that the deaths that resulted from this disease left many unanswered questions at the time because information on "slim," as HIV/AIDS was nicknamed, was not available until the mid-1990s and the local Luo culture did not encourage open discussion about the disease. Using straightforward language, Odhiambo addresses traditions of the Luo culture and details about HIV/AIDS, including how it is contracted and its effects on the body. VERDICT This moving testament to the power of determination to overcome overwhelming odds is a recommended purchase for all libraries.-Sarah Wilsman, Bainbridge Library, Chagrin Falls, OH

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Starred review from July 15, 2017
In Odhiambo's debut novel, a young girl faces a difficult decision when AIDS hits her Kenyan village. Born "facedown," 13-year-old Auma knows she's destined for great things. As one of the fastest runners in school, track is her ticket to getting a scholarship to continue her education. But in her village of Koromo, people are dying at an alarming rate from a disease called AIDS, and few people really know why. Auma's dream is to become a doctor and help those afflicted. When first her father becomes ill and then her mother soon after, Auma is left shouldering the responsibility of caring for her family. Grades and running begin to take a back seat to feeding her family, and Auma must find the strength to follow her dreams, no matter how impossible they seem. In Auma, Odhiambo draws from her own experiences of growing up in Kenya during the beginning of the AIDS crisis to present a strong, intelligent protagonist who questions and refuses to give in to what is normally accepted. Auma treats readers to beautiful descriptions of the world around her but also gives them a candid look at the fear and superstition surrounding AIDs in its early days in Kenya as well as the grief of loss. All of the characters are black. Honestly told, Auma's tale humanizes and contextualizes the AIDs experience in Kenya without sensationalizing it. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Starred review from July 24, 2017
This gripping novel set in a Kenyan village in the 1980s chronicles the rampant and little-understood AIDS epidemic through the perspective of ambitious 13-year-old Auma, a track star who dreams of becoming a doctor. Debut novelist Odhiambo builds suspense as Auma gains knowledge about the disease (often called “slim”) from the deaths of her best friend’s parents and the whispers of gossip; matters become intensely personal when her father, who had been working in Nigeria, falls ill. “Were the deaths connected, or was it all just coincidence?” Auma wonders. After her father dies, the family is economically imperiled, and as Auma matures, she deals with restrictive gender roles, the pressure to marry, and difficult decisions as others close to her sicken and die; in one scary instance, she must fend off the advances of a sick neighbor who thinks a virgin might cure him. The novel spans two years, and Odhiambo smoothly weaves in medical details throughout, along with the evolving understanding of AIDS. A hard-hitting story of a resilient and intelligent girl who bravely confronts a devastating health crisis. Ages 8–up.

August 1, 2017
Grades 6-8 In her impressive debut, Odhiambo throws readers into a bustling nineties Kenyan village with this in-depth look at family grief. Auma is 13 and in year seven at her primary school. She loves running, has dreams of leaving Koromo to go to high school on a track scholarship, and wants to be a doctor. But when her baba (father), looking thinner, returns early from his job in Nairobi, and more people in her village start dying, Auma starts questioning everything she knows. Then her father dies, and Auma must decide whether to continue her schooling or work to feed her family. By the end of the novel, Auma is 15, but she's grappling with decisions that would overwhelm most adults. In this gut-wrenching look at the AIDS epidemic in Kenya in the nineties, Odhiambo flawlessly weaves Kenyan tradition and culture with appropriate preteen problems (discussing crushes, competing in track meets). A detailed fictionalized portrayal of the effects of a very real disease, this novel would be an excellent asset to classrooms everywhere.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)