The Bite of Mango

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 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 As told to her by Mariatu, journalist Susan McClelland has written the heartbreaking true story of the brutal attack, its aftermath and Mariatu s eventual arrival in Toronto where she began to pull together the pieces of her broken life with courage, astonishing resilience and hope. Best Read [ The Bite of Mango ] Author [ Mariatu Kamara ] – kino-fada.fr Mariatu Kamara grew up in a remote village in Sierra Leone with her aunt and uncle The civil war raging in neighbouring Liberia spilled over to Sierra Leone and the 12 year old girl was eventually caught up in the war, losing both her hands This is the story of how Kamara faced up to her losses during the war and how she overcame the challenges facing her to make a good life for herself and for others.The RUF attacked anyone who was not with them and cut off their hands so that they couldn t v Mariatu Kamara grew up in a remote village in Sierra Leone with her aunt and uncle The civil war raging in neighbouring Liberia spilled over to Sierra Leone and the 12 year old girl was eventually caught up in the war, losing both her hands This is the story of how Kamara faced up to her losses during the war and how she overcame the challenges facing her to make a good life for herself and for others.The RUF attacked anyone who was not with them and cut off their hands so that they couldn t vote WTF , the election slogan of the President being Power is in your hands The book is heartwarming and for me, the crowning moment was when Kamara met Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier turned activist His book...After a happy childhood in a Sierra Leone village, Mariatu Kamara s life took a tragic turn in 1999 The innocent girl was raped by an older man in her village Then rebels attacked during the Civil War, killing and torturing people The cruel rebels, many just young boy soldiers, hacked off both of her hands before heading out to destroy the next village Twelve year old Mariatu managed to walk miles to get help, and found that several of her cousins had met the same fate.Mariatu tells how they After a happy childhood in a Sierra Leone village, Mariatu Kamara s life took a tragic turn in 1999 The innocent girl was raped by an older man in her village Then rebels attacked during the Civil War, killing and torturing people The cruel rebels, many just young boy soldiers, hacked off both of her hands before heading out to destroy the next village Twelve year old Mariatu managed to walk miles to get help, and found that several of her cousins had met the same fate.Mariatu tells how they coped in an amputee village, going out begging in the streets so they could buy food Relatives stayed with them in the tent village, cooking and caring for them Mariatu s story had been publicized by journalists, and she was eventually helped by generous people in England and Canada She learned En...This ia a harrowing tale and one can t help but admiring Mariatu s indomitable spirit to overcome endure all that she has in her relatively short life.But as for the actual writing relating of the story, I skimmed through some earlier reviews and noted two couple of comments that resonated with my experience reading this memoir 1 Surprisingly, I didn t feel as emotionally engaged as I expected I would be I think this was in part for me because there were chunks of time that were skip This ia a harrowing tale and one can t help but admiring Mariatu s indomitable spirit to overcome endure all that she has in her relatively short life.But as for the actual writing relating of the story, I skimmed through some earlier reviews and noted two couple of comments that resonated with my experience reading this memoir 1 Surprisingly, I didn t feel as emotionally engaged as I expected I would be I think this was in part for me because there were chunks of time that were skipped over in a sentence or two 2 While the begining of the book was told in a clear simple style, which worked well with the very young age she was at that time, as her experiences piled on, her world expanded, and she grew up, the voice remained relatively young There was very few momentsmature awareness or deepened perceptions ors...Mariatu Kamara was born in the country of Sierra Leone, a city wracked by civil war from 1999 2002 The rebel army made strong use of child soldiers, a trend that many people know about as a result of A Long Way Gone an incredibly moving book by Sierra Leonean Ishmael Beah He was one of the boy soldiers.Mariatu on the other hand was just an 11 year old girl when her village was attacked by the rebels The village was destroyed, many of the villagers were tortured and or killed, the surviving Mariatu Kamara ...I wanted to like this bookthan I did and I feel a little bit bad about this review in advance There are a few reasons why I didn t really connect with it as much as I d hoped to and they are mostly based on what my initial expectations of the book were Perhaps the fault lieswith me than with the writer, nevertheless, it s my personal review.1 The history buff in me had hoped for a bitbackground and insight to the civil war in Sierra Leone at that time As it were, the book w I wanted to like this bookthan I did and I feel a little bit bad about this review in advance There are a few reasons why I didn t really connect with it as much as I d hoped to and they are mostly based on what my initial expectations of the book were Perhaps the fault lieswith me than with the writer, nevertheless, it s my personal review.1 The history buff in me had hoped for a bitbackground and insight to the civil war in Sierra ...Wars in Africa and everywhere in the world have taken their toll on the innocents women, children, the elderly.The stories we are told often leave us in tears and the atrocities people experience at times of conflict are often unimaginable.In this novel, Mariatu Kamara tells her story of living through conflict in Sierra Leone and how she escaped to Canada to start a new life.She grew up in a small village and lived peacefully among family and friends But rebel attacks soon got closer and clo Wars in Africa and everywhere in the world have taken their toll on the innocents women, children, the elderly.The stories we are told often leave us in tears and the atrociti...The Bite Of The Mango is an inspiring book of a young girl who had to go through so much as a child and growing up With a lot of suffering and pain.This book might be graphical for those who might not like violence but most of all, it teaches you a life lesson It teaches you to keep going forward in life even if it might be hard and to never give...I don t know how this one slipped past me and I haven t read it, so I m glad I pulled it off the shelf to read this summer It s a slim book, but a powerful story and while the narrative seemed a little stilted, the story remains the same the trauma of war in Sierra Leone completely took away the hope of Kamara until she was able to find it again with a dose of resiliency and knowing that people were listening all across the globe to the atrocities of civil war in her country Kamara s hands w I don t know how this one slipped past me and I haven t read it, so I m glad I pulled it off the shelf to read this summer It s a slim book, but a powerful story and while the narrative seemed a little stilted, the story remains the same the trauma of war in Sierra Leone completely took away the hope of Kamara until she was able to find it again with a dose of resiliency and knowing that people were listening all across the globe to the atrocities of civil war in her country Kamara s hands were cut off by the rebel group as a way to force people to not vote, but Kamara wasn t even a teenager and didn t even know what who a president was She was also raped by a man hoping to take Kamara as a bride She birthed a boy named Abdul and while he did die before his first birthday, she wanted to make sure the story was told she was not raped by the rebel soldiers who ...You know, I actually really found myself enjoying this book.While the writing was not superb, the ideas and people within the novel were moving Sometimes it s important to take a step back from your own life and look at the true, harrowing life stories of others This was one of those stories for me.I think one of the most interesting parts of this book is its connection to A Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier I didn t even realize until close to the end of the book that I was looking at You know, I actually really found myself enjoying this book.While the writing was not superb, the ideas and people within the novel were moving Sometimes it s important to take a step back from your own life and look at the true, harrowing life sto...This book made me cry Yeah, there s a scene on where she eats a mango or two, but this story doesn t revolve around mangoes I was balling my eyes out, my friends had to ask me repeatedly on why am I crying I like this book because on how she has a totally different writing style on how she delivers her own message She didn t drawl anything out in a boring way, or in the printed English handwriting No Out of all the words I read in the language of my mother s tongue I can feel the character This book made me cry Yeah, there s a scene on where she eats a mango or two, but this story doesn t revolve around mangoes I was balling my eyes out, my friends had to ask me repeatedly on why am I cr...

• English
• 14 August 2017
Mariatu Kamara
• Paperback
• 216 pages
• 1554511585
• Mariatu Kamara
• The Bite of Mango