End of Summer Non-Fiction

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After by Clemantine Wamariya & Elizabeth Weil, 2018

Heart breaking story of a six year old girl who is separated from her family during the violence in Rwanda.

She escapes with her sister Claire and ends up in a refugee camp, where the sisters struggle to stay clean and prevent bugs from burrowing in his feet.

A refugee camp worker falls in love with Claire, marries her and takes her & Clemantine away from the camp to live with his family in Zaire.  Clemantine can be a girl again.

Unfortunately, violence overtakes Zaire and Clemantine & Claire are on the move again.  Claire's husband Rob loses his job and soon, takes out the hopelessness of his life on Claire and beats her.

Eventually, Clemantine, Claire's children & Rob emigrate to the States, where they start a new life.

Clemantine is 'sponsored' by a wealthy family in the suburbs who she lives with during the week while she attends school.

She needs to balance the wealth and frivolity of her new family and classmates with the depravity of her old life and what is happening in her homeland

The story is told back & forth between her new life in the States & her journey throughout seven African countries trying to find peace.  The alternating stories felt disconnected and took away from both journeys.

Doing Time Like A Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison by John Kiriakou, 2017

Arrested for acknowledging that torture was used on al Qaeda prisoners, Kiriakou was sentenced to 30 months in a work camp & ended up in a low security prison.

The stories of prison seem to make up story lines in Orange is the New Black Netflix show.

Converting to Judiasm for the better meals.  COs (Correction Officers) on power trips, losers who become bullies.

Prisoners segregated by race.  TV room being a battle ground.

New things mentioned was the prevalence of pedophiles and how they are at the bottom of the chain & shunned by other prisoners.

The most interesting stories have to do with the prisoners and relationships he makes.

Including how one of the inmates whom he trusted & considered a friend proving to be the opposite.  Proving no matter how wary or an expert on people one is, people are always vulnerable.

The 'Letter from Loretto' blogs he wrote are also part of the book.  I found the pre-written Letters broke the flow a bit & enjoyed Kiraikou's account of prison life v the blogs he wrote that served as an ends to a mean (e.g. urging readers to write in regarding prison staff behavior).