The girl who is burning

Author's name: Claire Masoud

“As for my father, he is so present in my life that I haven’t even looked at him. Not as much as I should. I love him very much, but I hardly ever see him. I know his face so well that I can’t tell when something is changing in him—and my mother said the other day that more than half his hair has gone gray: when did that happen?. As for Casey, it was as if her father was standing behind a thick black curtain with a few tiny holes in it, and she had to lean very close to those holes and look through them, trying to piece together her father’s appearance and figure from the little she could see.” * Julia and the orphan Casey had been friends since kindergarten. They shared everything: Lady Gaga songs, McDonald’s meals, taking care of the cats, and little secrets. But as soon as they entered their teens, everything in their friendship changed for reasons Julia didn’t understand: Was her best friend still really close despite the silence and formality that had prevailed between them? Was it the parents, or School, physical transformations, or the secrets Casey tries to hide from her friend to maintain a perfect image in her eyes, what pushed them apart?





We learn with Thiong'o the value of knowledge, which colonialism withheld from the Kenyan people. He tells us about the emergence of formal education and independent, rebellious schools in Kenya. His dream, which he promised his mother he would spare no effort to achieve, was to learn. But how can a child cling to his dream amidst the shadows of World War II and his family crises? This childhood memoir serves as Thiong'o's testimony in defense of his right to dream, at least, despite all the difficulties, and of his mother's significant role in his life, which has led him to become one of Africa's greatest writers worldwide.