The Paper House

July 1, 2012

Gr 3-5-When readers first encounter 10-year-old Safiyah, she is digging through piles of garbage, searching for pictures from old magazines in the Kibera slum just outside Nairobi. These pictures will serve a dual function: plugging the holes in the hut Safiyah shares with her sick grandmother and decorating its outside walls in a mosaic illustrating their family history. Neighbors and friends come together around the mural, telling their own stories of loss and displacement. The mural even attracts the attention of a local teacher, who secures an art scholarship for Safiyah, who has never been able to afford school. Young American readers will identify with many of the protagonist's daily problems (fights with friends, frustration with relatives), while challenges she faces (searching for potable water, finding medical aid for her grandmother) will educate them about life in poverty-stricken Kibera. There is an unfortunate lack of books for young readers about this part of the world, but Peterson's lackluster plotting and underdeveloped characters keep The Paper House from reaching past cliches to begin to fill this void.-Gesse Stark-Smith, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2012
Grades 4-6 Artistic expression brightens the future of a child living hand to mouth in Nairobi's Kibera slum. Orphaned by AIDS and driven out of her village by hard times, Safiyah gathers discarded magazines from the nearby garbage dumpat first just to plug the holes in the shanty she shares with her cucu (grandmother), but then to decorate the outside walls with murals made from torn-out pictures. Peterson paints a grim picture of the setting, but she eases back on the physical hazards: a nearby house catches fire, but death and violence are talked about rather than seen; a feared teen gang leader proves unexpectedly helpful; and when Cucu falls ill, she receives quick medical attention. When photos of Saffy's murals appear in the newspaper, not only do crowds gather to admire them but a donor makes it possible at last for her to go to school. Readers will come away happy for Safiyah and at least a little more aware of conditions in one of the Third World's more blighted locales. Part of the proceeds from this story will be donated to a Kibera school.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)