Popular African Memoir Books
Find memoir books written by authors from Africa for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (89)
21.
Dreams Of Trespass : Tales Of A Harem Girlhood by Fatima Mernissi EN
MoroccoDescription:
This "wonderful and enchanting" memoir tells the revelatory true story of one Muslim girl's life in her family's French Moroccan harem, set against the backdrop of World War II (The New York Times Book Review). "I was born in a harem in 1940 in Fez, Morocco..." So begins Fatima Mernissi in this illuminating narrative of a childhood behind the iron gates of a domestic harem. In Dreams of Trespass, Mernissi weaves her own memories with the dreams and memories of the women who surrounded her in the courtyard of her youth -- women who, without access to the world outside, recreated it from sheer i... continue
22.
El nen negre by Camara Laye CA
GuineaDescription:
Un jove escriptor de 25 anys decideix narrar la seva infantesa africana, a l'Alta Guinea. Però, més enllà d'un relat autobiogràfic, ens retorna, amb tota la seva veritat, la vida quotidiana, les tradicions i els costums de tot un poble. Amb aquest Nen negre, Camara Laye ens ofereix un llibre intemporal ple de finor i de talent que recull, en un text fluid i delicat, tota la mitologia africana i la plena capacitat poètica de la vida captada amb els ulls transparents i innocents d'un noi.
23.
El traductor : la historia de un nativo del desierto de Darfur by Daoud Hari, Dennis Michael Burke, Megan M. McKenna ES
SudanDescription:
Testimonio de un hombre del desierto en Darfur Una aventura conmovedora que ha cautivado al mundo, narrada en primera persona por un hombre que, con un coraje inusitado, ha sobrevivido al brutal genocidio de Darfur. Daoud Hari creci&ó en un peque&ño pueblo de Sud&án. Cuando su aldea fue atacada y destruida, huy&ó desierto a trav&és con un grupo de amigos, en busca de comida, agua y un refugio donde permanecer a salvo. Al llegar la prensa y los grupos de ayuda internacional a la regi&ón, &él se ofreci&ó como traductor, y pronto estaba guiando a los periodistas por la que sin duda es una de las ... continue
24.
Facing Mount Kenya by Jomo Kenyatta EN
KenyaDescription:
Facing Mount Kenya, first published in 1938, is a monograph on the life and customs of the Gikuyu people of central Kenya prior to their contact with Europeans. It is unique in anthropological literature for it gives an account of the social institutions and religious rites of an African people, permeated by the emotions that give to customs and observances their meaning. It is characterised by both insight and a tinge of romanticism. The author, proud of his African blood and ways of thought, takes the reader through a thorough and clear picture of Gikuyu life and customs, painting an almost ... continue
25.
From the Four Winds by Hayim Sabato EN
EgyptDescription:
Haim Sabato draws us into his childhood with this evocative rendering of his experiences as a young boy whose family immigrates to Israel in the 1950's, settling in a Ma'abara - a transit camp. He notices his fellow immigrants' concealment of their pasts. He accepts this secrecy, sensing that everything will reveal itself eventually. And this revelation does come, in the form of Farkash, a mysterious, dynamic man who takes Haim under his wing and gradually divulges to him his sorrowful, uplifting story, one that profoundly impacts Haim for the rest of his life...
26.
Gem Squash Tokoloshe by Rachel Zadok EN
Country: Africa / 
South Africa
South Africa
Description:
Faith struggles to make sense of the complex world in which she lives and come to terms with the beliefs her society and upbringing have inculcated in her. This tale of courage, set against the backdrop of a chaotically divided country, recreates the voice of a young girl growing up during the height of apartheid unrest in South Africa.
27.
Going to the Mountain : Life Lessons from My Grandfather, Nelson Mandela by Ndaba Mandela EN
Country: Africa / South Africa
South Africa
Description:
The first-ever book to tell Nelson Mandela's life through the eyes of the grandson who was raised by him, chronicling Ndaba Mandela's life living with, and learning from, one of the greatest leaders and humanitarians the world has ever known. To the rest of the world, Nelson Mandela was a giant: an anti-apartheid revolutionary, a world-renowned humanitarian, and South Africa's first black president. To Ndaba Mandela, he was simply "Granddad." In Going to the Mountain, Ndaba tells how he came to live with Mandela shortly after he turned eleven--having met each other only once, years before, whe... continue
29.
How Dare The Sun Rise by Sandra Uwiringiyimana EN
Country: Africa / 
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Democratic Republic of
Description:
Junior Library Guild Selection * New York Public Library's Best Books for Teens * Goodreads Choice Awards Nonfiction Finalist * Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best Books for Teens: Nonfiction * 2018 Texas Topaz Nonfiction List * YALSA's 2018 Quick Picks List * Bank Street's 2018 Best Books of the Year “This gut-wrenching, poetic memoir reminds us that no life story can be reduced to the word ‘refugee.’" —New York Times Book Review “A critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced.” —School Library Journal (starred review) T... continue
