A Calf Named Brian Higgins by Kristen Ball - Book Review
Release: January 7, 2018
Format: Kindle
Publisher: One Elm Books, an imprint of Red Chair Press
Source: NetGalley
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Synopsis: Thirteen-year-old Hannah Higgins is convinced her summer is ruined when she is forced to travel to Africa and work in a remote village with her mom and uncle. Never having been to a developing country, she finds the food gross and the community filthy. She has to live without electricity or running water. Then she is told she must attend school.
Just when she thinks nothing could make this trip any worse, she learns people there are dying of hunger and preventable disease. Hannah becomes frustrated and wants to help, but when poverty threatens the lives of people she loves, all she wants to do is go home. This story is an adventure of discovery.
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About the Author Kristen Ball: Kristen Ball has been a teacher of 5th and 4th Grades, and has worked in various educational publishing houses such as McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall and TIME Kids. Along the way she found time to create School-to-School outreach programs between colleagues in NYC and Connecticut and Mbola, Tanzania and Sauri, Kenya. Kristen is a lifelong advocate of service learning and global studies.
In 2005 she became the first Westerner to live in Sauri, Kenya the setting for her debut novel "A Calf Named Brian Higgins". Kristen currently lives in Connecticut where she continues to support learning among young people.
A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and One Elm Books for providing me an advanced readers copy of “A Calf Named Brian Higgins” by Kristen Ball.
What I loved most about this book was how realistically it depicts the life in rural Africa. As this book is directed towards middle grade readers, I expected the story to be lighthearted and carefree. Instead, the story beautifully moves between fiction and non-fiction by clearly portraying the hardships of the people. The author does not sugar coat the difficulties that the families face in these villages. It clearly shows how these people lack the basic needs that we take for granted daily. It also expresses how poor the infrastructure is and how people manage without medicine, school supplies and water.
But it also conveys how human traits like compassion and brotherhood transcends all other boundaries. Even with all the hardships, the people of these villages are brimming with hope, positivity and smiling. It really opens our eyes to reflect on ourselves and our behaviors. We tend to get upset over small things in our lives when it doesn’t go according to our plan. Even though we have all the basic needs (and more) to live comfortably, we tend to be pessimistic and yearn for the things we lack.
Then there are these children from Sauri, who don’t even have most of what we have, and yet they are happy. They find happiness in simple things, like a mirror, a beach ball and a Frisbee. They rely on each other and don’t think twice on lending a helping hand.
Asante Sana to Kristen Ball for writing this lovely story. The author has done a fine job in making this book realistic without being too graphic for young readers. The author has written the plot smoothly with sufficient details to the background. The reader feels like they are taking a detailed tour of a village through the eyes of the protagonist.
I pictured being there with Hannah, as she discovered how difficult the condition is in the school and clinic. The characters are down to Earth and I loved each one of them, especially Wilkister. Wecan clearly see from the details mentioned that the author has lived a lot of these incidents during her time at Sauri. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! The book also provides details on how you can help make difference to these places. There are also heartwarming photographs included of the village people.
Overall, “A Calf Named Brian Higgins” is a wonderful story that I urge everyone to read and promote. I hope that the author continues to write more stories on such topics aimed towards providing awareness to young adults. 5/5 stars!
A Calf Named Brian Higgins
by Kristen Ball
Synopsis
"Thirteen-year-old Hannah Higgins is convinced her summer is ruined when she is forced to travel to Africa and work in a remote village with her mom and uncle. Never having been to a developing country, she finds the food gross and the community filthy. She has to live without electricity or running water. Then she is told she must attend school.
Just when she thinks nothing could make this trip any worse, she learns people there are dying of hunger and preventable disease. Hannah becomes frustrated and wants to help, but when poverty threatens the lives of people she loves, all she wants to do is go home. This story is an adventure of discovery."
Release
January 7, 2018
Format
Kindle
Publisher
One Elm Books, an imprint of Red Chair Press
Source
NetGalley
About the Author
Kristen Ball
Kristen Ball has been a teacher of 5th and 4th Grades, and has worked in various educational publishing houses such as McGraw-Hill, Prentice Hall and TIME Kids. Along the way she found time to create School-to-School outreach programs between colleagues in NYC and Connecticut and Mbola, Tanzania and Sauri, Kenya. Kristen is a lifelong advocate of service learning and global studies.
In 2005 she became the first Westerner to live in Sauri, Kenya the setting for her debut novel "A Calf Named Brian Higgins". Kristen currently lives in Connecticut where she continues to support learning among young people.
My Review
A BIG Thank You to NetGalley and One Elm Books for providing me an advanced readers copy of “A Calf Named Brian Higgins” by Kristen Ball.
What I loved most about this book was how realistically it depicts the life in rural Africa. As this book is directed towards middle grade readers, I expected the story to be lighthearted and carefree. Instead, the story beautifully moves between fiction and non-fiction by clearly portraying the hardships of the people. The author does not sugar coat the difficulties that the families face in these villages. It clearly shows how these people lack the basic needs that we take for granted daily. It also expresses how poor the infrastructure is and how people manage without medicine, school supplies and water.
But it also conveys how human traits like compassion and brotherhood transcends all other boundaries. Even with all the hardships, the people of these villages are brimming with hope, positivity and smiling. It really opens our eyes to reflect on ourselves and our behaviors. We tend to get upset over small things in our lives when it doesn’t go according to our plan. Even though we have all the basic needs (and more) to live comfortably, we tend to be pessimistic and yearn for the things we lack.
Then there are these children from Sauri, who don’t even have most of what we have, and yet they are happy. They find happiness in simple things, like a mirror, a beach ball and a Frisbee. They rely on each other and don’t think twice on lending a helping hand.
Asante Sana to Kristen Ball for writing this lovely story. The author has done a fine job in making this book realistic without being too graphic for young readers. The author has written the plot smoothly with sufficient details to the background. The reader feels like they are taking a detailed tour of a village through the eyes of the protagonist.
I pictured being there with Hannah, as she discovered how difficult the condition is in the school and clinic. The characters are down to Earth and I loved each one of them, especially Wilkister. Wecan clearly see from the details mentioned that the author has lived a lot of these incidents during her time at Sauri. Thank you for sharing your experiences with us! The book also provides details on how you can help make difference to these places. There are also heartwarming photographs included of the village people.
Overall, “A Calf Named Brian Higgins” is a wonderful story that I urge everyone to read and promote. I hope that the author continues to write more stories on such topics aimed towards providing awareness to young adults. 5/5 stars!
