Northern Lights Books Awards
A Calf Named Brian Higgins
Winner of the Pre-Teen Cultural Category
Author: Kristen Ball
One Elm Books
We can talk about poverty, but unless we have experienced it firsthand it can seem a bit abstract. A Calf Named Brian Higgins is a humbling read and gives a deeper meaning to what it means to live in a developing country, hopefully sparking us to do something to help.
A typical 13-year-old American, Hannah Higgins gets a huge dose of culture shock when she lands in the Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta International Airport with her mother. Uncle Brian, who was supposed to pick them up, is nowhere in sight. Apparently, he has been delayed because the bus he was taking broke down-a common occurrence along the rough roads of Kenya.
When they finally arrive in poverty-stricken Sauril, Hannah is caught up in her own discomforts. Like most children from the suburbs of New York, she takes certain things for granted. Things like healthy food, running water, and cell phone reception. By now, she’s wishing she had listened to her father and stayed home.
While her mother helps in the understaffed and understocked clinic, Hanna attends school with the village children. There she is shocked to learn that even though the village is planning a celebration because no one has died of starvation in a year’s time, many of the children don’t have any food for lunch.
When tragedy strikes will Hannah be able to counter her grief and pull herself out of her self-centered world to help those in dire need?
A Calf Named Brian Higgins is a fictionized account but because it is based on the author’s own experience it comes across as a true account.
A dear-heart of a book that underscores how a community pulls together in a way most of us have never experienced.
You can view the full list of Northern Lights Book Award winners here:http://northerndawnawards.com/2019-northern-lights-book-awards-winners/
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