(4) YA Charlotte Adom starts college in Kumasi, Ghana, and becomes involved in political events, fighting against J. J. Rawlings when he takes power for the second time in 1981. The pull between Charlotte's everyday life with two competing love interests and her political activism is awkwardly depicted. Still, this rare YA novel on modern life in Africa fills a gap. Author's note included. Glos.

Reviewer: Melinda Greenblatt

(2) YA Dr. Christine hires Gloria as her son's nanny in Kumasi. Gloria enjoys the work, but Christine wants her to aspire to more. Unfortunately, Gloria believes she can only become Somebody by marrying up. This honest glimpse of one adolescent is as particular to the well-detailed Ghanaian setting as it is universal in subject and theme. Glos.

Reviewer: Betty Carter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2010

(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bushra Junaid. It's wintertime, and siblings Ken and Rama are trying to find a way to get their freezing-cold grandmother, who has recently arrived from Africa, out of bed. Badoe has found a humorous means of exploring serious subjects (culture shock, depression), and Junaid's inventive collage art, featuring photos of items such as tree branches and knitted garments cut and arranged to resemble the characters' articles of clothing, are remarkable.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Baba Wague Diakite. The boastful and greedy spider connives his way through ten well-paced episodes retold here from the Ghanian author's childhood recollections. The folk-art paintings are sometimes at odds with the storyteller's words, but the stories offer enjoyable glimpses at Ananse's triumphs and humiliations.

Reviewer: Margaret A. Bush | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2002