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'Powerful and timely ... in my culture, every story is told with the purpose of either imparting knowledge, reparing a broken bond, or transforming the listener and teller. Mariatu's story embodies all of these elements' Ishmael Beah, author of the Number One New York Times bestseller A Long Way Gone 'Deeply personal yet devoid of self-pity. As it aims to correct misperceptions about Sierra Leone and to raise awareness of the needs of child victims of war, this book will unsettle readers - and then inspire them with the evidence of Mariatu's courage' Publishers Weekly
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As a child in a small rural village in Sierra Leone, Mariatu Kamara lived peacefully surrounded by family and friends. Rumors of rebel attacks were no more than a distant worry. But when 12-year-old Mariatu set out for a neighboring village, she never arrived. Heavily armed rebel soldiers, many no older than children themselves, attacked and tortured Mariatu. During this brutal act of senseless violence they cut off both her hands. Stumbling through the countryside, Mariatu miraculously survived. The sweet taste of a mango, her first food after the attack, reaffirmed her desire to live, but the challenge of clutching the fruit in her bloodied arms reinforced the grim new reality that stood before her. With no parents or living adult to support her and living in a refugee camp, she turned to begging in the streets of Freetown. In this gripping and heartbreaking true story, Mariatu shares with readers the details of the brutal attack, its aftermath and her eventual arrival in Toronto. There she began to pull together the pieces of her broken life with courage, astonishing resilience and hope.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In the story of this one brave woman we see the story of Africa and how the continent has been raped and exploited by the western powers. It isn't the boy soldiers who need to be brought to book but the arms dealers and arms manufacturers and the nations that support their continual production and sale. Africa needs plough shares not weaponry and Africa needs support in education, development and democracy, all anathema, of course, to the democratic countries pillaging the continent. This book tells the story of a young girl who escaped the horrors of Sierra Leone after having her hands cut off but her story is a metaphor for how all of us in the world are without hands when it comes to trying to reshape and replenish a dying Africa.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a raw account of wickedness and brutality visited on a 12 year old girl and her cousins during the (un)civil war in Sierra Leone. How she was able to recover from this is hard to understand. All the more horrifying when we discover that the 'soldiers' who maimed her and killed and maimed many others in her village were 'child' soldiers. Similar age to herself, but fired by drugs and evil. Many years ago I crossed the land border from Zaire into Uganda during an overland journey and was very nervous not to catch the eye of any of the Ugandan boy-soldier border guards who searched our truck.
This account from Sierra Leone shows just how easily the shell of civilisation is shattered and people act out unimaginable wickedness against their follow men. The depths of depravity seem fathomless. That Mariatu survived all that was visited upon her is thanks to the intervention and help of strangers and her extended family.
The story is told in very simple language which makes it all the more vivid with one caveat. The North Americanisms with which it is peppered do not ring true. Phrases and metaphors used grate and detract from the simplicity of the story. I suppose some of this was inevitable as the co-author Susan McClelland is a Canadian journalist and so the story comes to us through two pairs of eyes. I just wish an editor had intervened to ensure that the authentic voice of Mariatu Kamara was more dominant throughout.
This account from Sierra Leone shows just how easily the shell of civilisation is shattered and people act out unimaginable wickedness against their follow men. The depths of depravity seem fathomless. That Mariatu survived all that was visited upon her is thanks to the intervention and help of strangers and her extended family.
The story is told in very simple language which makes it all the more vivid with one caveat. The North Americanisms with which it is peppered do not ring true. Phrases and metaphors used grate and detract from the simplicity of the story. I suppose some of this was inevitable as the co-author Susan McClelland is a Canadian journalist and so the story comes to us through two pairs of eyes. I just wish an editor had intervened to ensure that the authentic voice of Mariatu Kamara was more dominant throughout.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I heard about this book on BBC Radio 4 when Mariatu was being interviewed. She sounded such a brave courageous person, that I had to buy the book. Once I started reading I was hooked. She tells the story of her life before and after the war with no hint of hatred. How can someone so young have such a wise head on her shoulders? I finished reading the book in 3 days and started it again. Bits of it had me in tears, sometimes with sadness, sometimes with her courage. But don't get me wrong, this is not a sloppy silly book. It is a book of courage and hope. This is one book that I will not be giving away, it will stay on my bookself as a reminder of a courageous young lady. Her cup is never half empty it is always half full.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Triumph Overcome
Bite of the Mango is a harrowing, raw description of the terrible ordeal of a young girl, who has managed to make a new life for herself. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Devine70
Amazing!
I could not put this book down!
Great read and it shows how strong and brave this girl is! I have now passed it on to my niece.
Buy it now!
Great read and it shows how strong and brave this girl is! I have now passed it on to my niece.
Buy it now!
Published 17 months ago by E. S. Tweed
Brilliant!!!
Loved this book....can't belive someone so young went through so much.
I would definitely recomend this book, it makes you think how lucky you are!
Emma
I would definitely recomend this book, it makes you think how lucky you are!
Emma
Published 20 months ago by Emma
A Review of Bite Of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara and Susan McClelland
Bite of the Mango is a testimony of the ability of a young girl to not only survive a terrible ordeal, mutilation and rape but also to learn to live without hands; to eventually to... Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2010 by J. Hamilton
Courageous self preservation
A tale of courage in the face of cruelty as only Africa knows how. An escape from drug crazed Sierra Leone rebels, minus ones hands, is a miracle of survival. Read more
Published on 20 Dec 2009 by Ms. Adrienne May
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