Little Family

February 24, 2020
The allure of wealth tests a makeshift family in this vibrant outing from Beah (A Long Way Gone). Eighteen-year-old Khoudiemata acts as a motherly figure for a group of five young people living on the margins of the city of Foloiya in an unnamed African country that will remind readers of Sierra Leone. They spend their days roving through town and stealing essentials to survive. Twenty-year-old Elimane, a member of the family, connects with a rich man they call William Handkerchief, who enlists the “little family” in shady dealings in exchange for payments of hundreds of dollars. Khoudiemata uses her share to hide the reality of her current situation and befriend a group of young wealthy elites in Foloiya, including Frederick Cardew-Boston, scion of a powerfully connected family. Khoudiemata agrees to a weekend away with Frederick and his friends, but Elimane’s concern about her involvement with Frederick leads to devastating consequences. Beah informs his characters’ blend of street savvy and naïveté with bursts of details about the experiences that shaped them in a bustling and crooked society. Fans of African postcolonial fiction are in for a treat. Agent: Flip Brophy.

Narrator Dion Graham captures listeners' attention in this heartbreaking audiobook about five orphans in an unnamed coastal town in an unnamed African country. Each of the five main characters has such a distinct personality that it could have made sense to hire a full cast, but with Graham narrating, it was unnecessary. The various dialects, accents, and quirks of the characters are so distinct that listeners will recognize each one without even having to hear their name. Graham's ability to switch from a documentary-type narrator's voice, to a teenage girl's, to an old man's and back is seamless and engrossing. Don't make plans once you hit play on this. You won't be able to stop. A.R.F. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award � AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine