{"product_id":"tiny-sunbirds-far-away-isbn-9781590514665","title":"Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2011 Costa First Novel Award\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen their mother catches their father with another woman, twelve year-old Blessing and her fourteen-year-old brother, Ezikiel, are forced to leave their comfortable home in Lagos for a village in the Niger Delta, to live with their mother’s family. Without running water or electricity, Warri is at first a nightmare for Blessing. Her mother is gone all day and works suspiciously late into the night to pay the children’s school fees. Her brother, once a promising student, seems to be falling increasingly under the influence of the local group of violent teenage boys calling themselves Freedom Fighters. Her grandfather, a kind if misguided man, is trying on Islam as his new religion of choice, and is even considering the possibility of bringing in a second wife.\u003cbr\u003e   But Blessing’s grandmother, wise and practical, soon becomes a beloved mentor, teaching Blessing the ways of the midwife in rural Nigeria. Blessing is exposed to the horrors of genital mutilation and the devastation wrought on the environment by British and American oil companies. As Warri comes to feel like home, Blessing becomes increasingly aware of the threats to its safety, both from its unshakable but dangerous traditions and the relentless carelessness of the modern world. \u003ci\u003eTiny Sunbirds, Far Away \u003c\/i\u003eis the witty and beautifully written story of one family’s attempt to survive a new life they could never have imagined, struggling to find a deeper sense of identity along the way.\u003cp\u003eSelected as one of CNN.com’s 12 Good Summer Reads  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A sure-footed debut narrated by 12-year-old Blessing, a girl growing up too fast in the troubled Niger Delta.” —\u003ci\u003ePeople Magazine\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[An] assured, absorbing first novel…Watson’s cleanly told coming-of-age story generates real narrative momentum.” —\u003ci\u003eCleveland Plain Dealer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Watson is generous in her assessment of human nature, and her novel surprises even as its sense of danger is never truly at bay…[An] ultimately triumphant book.”—\u003ci\u003eMiami Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[An] impressive debut…Watson’s nuanced portrayal of daily life in Nigeria is peopled with flawed but tenacious characters who fight not only for survival but for dignity. Blessing is a wonderful narrator whose vivid impressions enliven Watson’s sensual prose.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[An] absorbing first novel, told through the eyes of the bright and observant Blessing…a memorable debut novel about a Nigerian girl’s coming of age.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Confronting issues of race, class, and religion, this work ponders idealistic ignorance in a way that is reminiscent of Chinua Achebe’s \u003ci\u003eNo Longer at Ease\u003c\/i\u003e. Watson’s story will appeal to readers of African and literary fiction.” —\u003ci\u003e Library Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Through the lens of young girl’s coming-of-age, this breakthrough novel views the politics of contemporary Nigeria, portraying the clash between traditional and modern as it affects one extended family.” —\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A first novel that knows how to tell a story, concocting a voice that lures us. Perfect pitch is not reserved for musicians; some novelists have it, too. From the very first page of her very first book, Christie Watson proves she possesses it, creating a voice that tells a tale we can’t put down.” —\u003ci\u003eBarnes and Noble Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An excellent novel. It takes the reader deep into the reality of ordinary life in Nigeria and is also funny, moving and politically alert.” —Giles Foden, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last King of Scotland\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Christie Watson’s debut novel, set in the troubled Niger Delta, does what fiction does best, it captures place and characters so well that you feel you are also there. It is sincere, it is powerfully written, and it deserves to be read.” —Helon Habila, author of \u003ci\u003eOil on Water\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the Commonwealth Prize\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Watson has written an immensely absorbing novel. It is both heart wrenching and consoling.” —Chika Unigwe, author of \u003ci\u003eOn Black Sisters’ Street\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“A fascinating, poignant story that had me laughing in places and deeply moved in others.” —Ike Anya\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Lyrical and beautifully drawn, a poignant coming-of-age tale, set in an Africa few readers will have experienced. A must-read.” —Lesley Lokko, author of \u003ci\u003eSundowners\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSaffron Skies\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBitter Chocolate\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“The gripping, triumphant tale of a girl who chooses life over loss, in a sweet but savage world where oil is bled from the earth.” —Lola Shoneyin, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Secret Lives of Baba Segi’s Wives\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eChristie Watson\u003c\/b\u003e is a British novelist and pediatric nurse. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia, where she won the Malcolm Bradbury Memorial Bursary, and has since published short fiction and other writings in numerous publications including \u003ci\u003eWasafiri,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eMslexia,\u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eIndex on Censorship\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003eWatson teaches creative writing at various institutions including Birkbeck University, the Groucho Club, and Cambridge University. She has won the Costa First Novel Award and Waverton Good Read Award for her first novel, \u003ci\u003eTiny Sunbirds, Far Away\u003c\/i\u003e, and was named one of \u003ci\u003eRed\u003c\/i\u003e’s Hot Women of the Year in 2012. She lives in London.Father was a loud man. I could hear him shouting from the neighbors’ apartment, where he argued about football with Dr. Adeshina and drank so much Remy Martin that he could not stand up properly. I could hear him singing when he returned from the Everlasting Open Arms House of Salvation Church, on a bus that had the words UP JESUS DOWN SATAN written on the side. The singing would reach my ears right up on the fourth floor. From my window I watched the\u003cbr\u003ebus driver and Pastor King Junior carry Father towards the apartment because he could not stand up at all.\u003cbr\u003e   If Father did stand up, it was worse. He seemed to have no idea how to move around quietly, and when he did try, after Mama said her head was splitting in two, the crashing became louder.\u003cbr\u003e   We were so used to Father’s loud voice that it became quieter. Our ears changed and put on a barrier like sunglasses whenever he was at home. So when we left for market early on Saturday morning and knew Father was out working all day on some important account at the office, our ears did not need their sunglasses on. And when Mama realized she had forgotten her purse, and we had to turn back, our ears were working fine. I heard the chatter of the women at market, the traffic and street traders along Allen Avenue, and the humming of the electric gate to let us back into the apartment building. I heard our footsteps on the hallway carpets, and Mama’s key in the front lock. I heard the cupboard door open when Ezikiel and I went straight for the biscuits.\u003cbr\u003eAnd then I heard the most terrible, loudest noise I had ever heard in my life.\u003cbr\u003e   My switched-on ears hurt. I tried to put the glasses on them, to switch them down, to turn them off. Father must have been home; I could hear him shouting.\u003cbr\u003e   Father was a loud man.\u003cbr\u003e   But it was Mama who was screaming.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Other Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301765271781,"sku":"NP9781590514665","price":19.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781590514665.jpg?v=1767742675","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/tiny-sunbirds-far-away-isbn-9781590514665","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}