An inspiring narrative that will be especially valuable to young people seeking to work for humanitarian causes.
A moving account of a determined young woman’s journey from poverty to humanitarian activism.
Raised by a generous, wise grandmother in Zimbabwe, Nyamayaro came of age in a time of withering heat. “There is no cool or comfortable place to hide,” she writes on the first page of her memoir. “The leaves of the tree are long gone, and with it the shade, burned away by the punishing drought that has descended on our small village.” The ensuing famine meant widespread death, but she was kept from starvation by the ministrations of U.N. aid workers. She was determined to become an aid worker herself. In 2000, at the age of 25, she moved to London, where an Irishwoman she met in a hostel dubbed her “Girl from Africa.” Nyamayaro, who returned the favor by dubbing the woman “Tiny Nose,” didn’t mind the sobriquet: “The fact that I’m African is all that matters, and that is enough. I am after all Mwana Wehvu—a child of the African soil.” Scraping to survive, finally finding work as a janitor, she talked her way into a volunteer position at a humanitarian agency and began to take on projects of increasing importance—e.g., developing responses to the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping her native country and working to help the government of the nation of Georgia to maintain a health insurance program for impoverished communities. Leading a team to combat maternal mortality in childbirth, Nyamayaro became increasingly aware of the scarcity of resources as well as the pervasiveness of gender inequality. “Why is it that despite all the progress made by the women’s rights movement,” she asks, “no country or company or institution in the world can yet claim to have achieved gender equality?” Throughout this memorable account of her impressive life, the author recalls “the central, definitive African value and philosophy of ubuntu: that when we uplift others, we are ourselves uplifted.”
An inspiring narrative that will be especially valuable to young people seeking to work for humanitarian causes.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-982113-01-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
A heartfelt blend of first-person journalism, oral history, travelogue, and elegy.
A personal profile of a beloved singer-songwriter.
After attending a John Prine concert in New Orleans in 2016—“He might have been an aging Mafia don, or an organizer for the longshoreman’s union, playing a Gibson jumbo guitar that looked almost as big as he was”—veteran author Piazza (City of Refuge, Devil Sent the Rain, etc.) profiled the singer-songwriter for Oxford American magazine. The article—also titled “Living in the Present With John Prine,” led to a friendship as well as a plan to produce Prine’s memoir, which was cut short when Prine died in 2020 from complications caused by Covid-19. He was 73. Piazza repurposed the materials he had gathered to produce this moving work. Equal parts profile, oral history, and on-the-road adventure, the book recounts the artist’s working-class background in suburban Chicago, his family connection to rural Kentucky, his early success with Atlantic Records, and the decision to co-found the label Oh Boy Records. Often writing in the first person and present tense, Piazza recounts his time with Prine, including a spontaneous road trip from Nashville to Sarasota, Florida, in a cherry-red 1977 Coupe de Ville. Piazza also reviews Prine’s body of work, its broad influence, and his unassuming humanity. Comparing Prine to Bob Dylan, Piazza notes, “You don’t want to be him, you just want to hang out with him.” Along the way, the author gathers insights from Prine’s peers, friends, and family. One band member, for example, notes that Prine’s keen emotional intelligence easily overcame his limitations as a musician and singer. A two-time cancer survivor, Prine was already in poor health when Piazza befriended him, but the artist’s good humor and low-key grace shine through on every page.
A heartfelt blend of first-person journalism, oral history, travelogue, and elegy.Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781324050858
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Norton
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
Everything about Sabathia is larger than life, yet he tells his story with honesty and humility.
One of the best pitchers of his generation—and often the only Black man on his team—shares an extraordinary life in baseball.
A high school star in several sports, Sabathia was being furiously recruited by both colleges and professional teams when the death of his grandmother, whose Social Security checks supported the family, meant that he couldn't go to college even with a full scholarship. He recounts how he learned he had been drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the first round over the PA system at his high school. In 2001, after three seasons in the minor leagues, Sabathia became the youngest player in MLB (age 20). His career took off from there, and in 2008, he signed with the New York Yankees for seven years and $161 million, at the time the largest contract ever for a pitcher. With the help of Vanity Fair contributor Smith, Sabathia tells the entertaining story of his 19 seasons on and off the field. The first 14 ran in tandem with a poorly hidden alcohol problem and a propensity for destructive bar brawls. His high school sweetheart, Amber, who became his wife and the mother of his children, did her best to help him manage his repressed fury and grief about the deaths of two beloved cousins and his father, but Sabathia pursued drinking with the same "till the end" mentality as everything else. Finally, a series of disasters led to a month of rehab in 2015. Leading a sober life was necessary, but it did not tame Sabathia's trademark feistiness. He continued to fiercely rile his opponents and foment the fighting spirit in his teammates until debilitating injuries to his knees and pitching arm led to his retirement in 2019. This book represents an excellent launching point for Jay-Z’s new imprint, Roc Lit 101.
Everything about Sabathia is larger than life, yet he tells his story with honesty and humility.Pub Date: July 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-13375-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roc Lit 101
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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