Growing up in suburban Illinois, Robin Wiszowaty leads a typical middle-class American life. Hers is a world of gleaming shopping malls, congested freeways, and neighborhood gossip. But from an early age, she has longed to break free of this existence and discover something deeper. What it is, she doesn't quite know. Yet she knows in her heart there simply has to be more. Through a fortunate twist of fate, Robin seizes an opportunity to travel to rural Kenya and join an impoverished Maasai community. Suddenly her days are spent hauling water, evading giraffes, and living in a tiny hut made of cow dung with her adoptive family. She is forced to face issues she's never considered: extreme poverty, drought, female circumcision, corruption — and discovers love in the most unexpected places. In the open wilds of the dusty savannah, this Maasai life is one she could never have imagined. -- from Amazon.com
I think that I read this book at exactly the right time in my life. Like Robin, I've been feeling kind of boxed into my life lately and I understand her need to go somewhere else. While I don't see myself traveling anywhere by plane in the near future, I do see some sort of change. That is why this book came along at a good time!
The chapters were smooth and they were easy to read. That is no small feat! Sometimes books similar to this are kind of hard to read, but I did not have this problem here. In fact, I enjoyed the glimpses into life in Africa. I was hooked from her first "shower" with her Maasai family and couldn't put the book down. At times, I felt as if I was right there with Robin.
I read a somewhat similar book in college and for the life of me cannot remember the name, however, I would have much preferred to have had this book as required reading.
I don't want to be extra gushy, or lame, but when Robin's parents finally visited and her father realized that Robin was a "giant", I sobbed like a baby! What a great, inspirational book.
*This book was provided by Little Bird Publicity for review on Confessions of a Bookaholic...
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