Bookverdict.com

Gr 8 Up—The title of Sullivan's second novel is more description than metaphor, as it recounts the misery of child slavery on cacao farms in Africa. Facing hunger because of drought in their native Mali, 13-year-old Amadou and his beloved brother Seydou seek work to help their family. When the novel opens two years later, Amadou muses, "I don't count how many trees we pass because I don't count the things that don't matter. I don't count unripe pods. I don't count how many times I've been hit for being under quota. I don't count how many day...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

For the past two years, fifteen-year-old Amadou and his little brother Seydou have been held as debt slaves on an Ivory Coast cacao plantation. Amadou protects Seydou as best he can by keeping him from dangerous tasks and taking his beatings when he doesn't make quota. But when a feisty girl prisoner, Khadija, arrives, she takes advantage of Seydou's naivete to try to escape, and their captors' retribution falls on Ama...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

Fifteen-year-old Amadou and his little brother Seydou are debt slaves on an Ivory Coast cacao plantation. When feisty girl prisoner Khadija takes adv...Log In or Sign Up to Read More