Tomi Kolapo 8I Mariatu was 12 years old and living in Sierra Leone when her village was attacked by rebel soldiers. Although they were only children themselves (most were boys and teens), they murdered most of the villagers – burning them in their homes – and cut off the hands of others, Mariatu among them. Mariatu made her way to another village where a kind man put her on the path to Freetown, where she was able to receive medical treatment (her arms were infected where her hands had been cut off). She also found some of her cousins at the hospital, and later lived with them in the refugee/amputee camp. Mariatu had to learn how to do everything without using the hands she no longer had. She also found out that she was pregnant (by a man in the village who had raped her a month or so before the rebels attacked). Mariatu and her cousins spent most of their days begging in the streets so that they could afford to buy food for their families. During this time, Mariatu had a chance to tell her story to several journalists, who published articles about her and other Sierra Leoneans who had survived the rebel massacres. Two men from Britain and Canada offered to sponsor Mariatu after reading about her plight. The Canadian man sent clothes and money, and the British one flew her to England where Mariatu was to be fitted for prosthetic hands. While she was in England, she received word that the Canadian man had offered to bring her to Canada. Mariatu felt she was meant to go there instead, so she did the unthinkable – returning to Sierra Leone to arrange a visa and passage to Canada. Canada and Sierra Leone were very different places, but Mariatu slowly began to adapt to her new surroundings. Eventually she was able to learn English and attend high school. Currently she is in university and working to help others in Sierra Leone.
I was completely absorbed in Mariatu’s story. The cruelty and callousness of the boys who took her hands and murdered countless others was difficult to understand even though i did understand :/ Mariatu is numb with fear and shock almost the whole time, so she barely notices the pain of her missing hands. I can’t even imagine what that would be like. There was so much pointless violence in her country, and it didn’t solve anything – I think that was one of the most frustrating things. Im going to read soon a book from the viewpoint of the boy soldiers (read Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone) which talks about his experiences as one of the rebel soldiers. Mariatu actually gets to meet Ishmael and they’re able find some common ground. 9.5/10
natasha haines 8A i would rate this book 9.5/10. mariatu was 12 years old and living in sierra leone when her village went under seige from rebel soldiers. these rebels were young boys that would get drugged up and were under comand of an older officer. many people in her village were killed. mariatu was lucky in a sense and wasnt killed,, howerver her hand were cut off. she wandered around trying to get to free town so she could possibly get treatment for where her hands used to be. she wsa worried about all her friens adn family because they could have been killed by the rebels and she would have no idea. as she wasn wondering she saw 2 different cobras cutting her off, so she had to go a differnt way. because of these cobras she found a man who guided her in teh direction of freetown. because of him she made it. there she was able to get medical treatment for her badly infected arms. at the hospital she saw some of her cousins and later they lived together at the amputee camp. mariatu later found out she was pregannt. thinking back she remembered salieu (the man she was supposed to marry) had done somethng that she didnt know what, now she knew. when the baby was born he only survived for several months and that crushed mariatu. several reporters found ,ariatu and published stories on her and that led to her being found by 2 poeple that were interested in helping her. one from england and one from canada. bill (the one from canada) was just going to be sending clothes and money, but later after she was already living in england bill said that he did want her to com eto canada. she was being offereed prostetic hands in both places even though she didnt want them. mariatu desperately wanted to go live in canada and wouldnt take no for an answer. everntually she was able to. mariatu became accustued more to our language and culture and food and other things of that sort. she ended up being pretty happy in canada.
this book ws fantastic. at times i had to put it down because it was just so sad, but it was still amazing. it is by far my favourite non-fiction book there is.
Rebecca Scott 8H I didn't really like this book very much. The storyline was good, but the writing wasn't done well, in my opinion. I thought it was very sad and I even cryed when Mariatu's baby died and when her hands were cut off by the child soldiers who couldn't have been older than her. I think that the book could have been longer though because when Mariatu came to Canada, it story started to get vague. I'd rate this book 6/10
Jackie Nelson F8G This book "The Bite of the Mango" was unforgetable. I absolutely love it. I like how Mariatu writes as if this book is almost her diary. Considering Mariatu's age and condition, I think that this book was very emotional. It was very sad, and I felt like I could relate to this character because of her age. This book made me very intrigued, because I had no idea what would happen next. Although, I think that when Mariatu came to Canada, the writing could have been a bit more discriptive/detailed. I was confused about what was going on when she finally came to safety. I would rate this book a 7.5/10.
abby 7h this book was all of the unexpected. who would've thought that one girl could of done so many things in one life? mariatu had the most eventful life i think is possible. she was simply a 12 year old girl who lived in an african village when the rebels attacked. then her life was as following: get her hands cut off get raped get pregnant and have c section birth have her baby die beg for money move to england get prosthetic hands move back to sierre leone to get a visa to move to canada move to canada learn english go to high school and so much more it would take forever to write about. i rate it 7 out of 10 because it was sad and kind of scary although it was true.
6 comments:
Tomi Kolapo 8I
Mariatu was 12 years old and living in Sierra Leone when her village was attacked by rebel soldiers. Although they were only children themselves (most were boys and teens), they murdered most of the villagers – burning them in their homes – and cut off the hands of others, Mariatu among them. Mariatu made her way to another village where a kind man put her on the path to Freetown, where she was able to receive medical treatment (her arms were infected where her hands had been cut off). She also found some of her cousins at the hospital, and later lived with them in the refugee/amputee camp. Mariatu had to learn how to do everything without using the hands she no longer had. She also found out that she was pregnant (by a man in the village who had raped her a month or so before the rebels attacked). Mariatu and her cousins spent most of their days begging in the streets so that they could afford to buy food for their families. During this time, Mariatu had a chance to tell her story to several journalists, who published articles about her and other Sierra Leoneans who had survived the rebel massacres. Two men from Britain and Canada offered to sponsor Mariatu after reading about her plight. The Canadian man sent clothes and money, and the British one flew her to England where Mariatu was to be fitted for prosthetic hands. While she was in England, she received word that the Canadian man had offered to bring her to Canada. Mariatu felt she was meant to go there instead, so she did the unthinkable – returning to Sierra Leone to arrange a visa and passage to Canada. Canada and Sierra Leone were very different places, but Mariatu slowly began to adapt to her new surroundings. Eventually she was able to learn English and attend high school. Currently she is in university and working to help others in Sierra Leone.
I was completely absorbed in Mariatu’s story. The cruelty and callousness of the boys who took her hands and murdered countless others was difficult to understand even though i did understand :/ Mariatu is numb with fear and shock almost the whole time, so she barely notices the pain of her missing hands. I can’t even imagine what that would be like. There was so much pointless violence in her country, and it didn’t solve anything – I think that was one of the most frustrating things. Im going to read soon a book from the viewpoint of the boy soldiers (read Ishmael Beah’s memoir, A Long Way Gone) which talks about his experiences as one of the rebel soldiers. Mariatu actually gets to meet Ishmael and they’re able find some common ground. 9.5/10
natasha haines 8A
i would rate this book 9.5/10. mariatu was 12 years old and living in sierra leone when her village went under seige from rebel soldiers. these rebels were young boys that would get drugged up and were under comand of an older officer. many people in her village were killed. mariatu was lucky in a sense and wasnt killed,, howerver her hand were cut off. she wandered around trying to get to free town so she could possibly get treatment for where her hands used to be. she wsa worried about all her friens adn family because they could have been killed by the rebels and she would have no idea. as she wasn wondering she saw 2 different cobras cutting her off, so she had to go a differnt way. because of these cobras she found a man who guided her in teh direction of freetown. because of him she made it. there she was able to get medical treatment for her badly infected arms. at the hospital she saw some of her cousins and later they lived together at the amputee camp. mariatu later found out she was pregannt. thinking back she remembered salieu (the man she was supposed to marry) had done somethng that she didnt know what, now she knew. when the baby was born he only survived for several months and that crushed mariatu. several reporters found ,ariatu and published stories on her and that led to her being found by 2 poeple that were interested in helping her. one from england and one from canada. bill (the one from canada) was just going to be sending clothes and money, but later after she was already living in england bill said that he did want her to com eto canada. she was being offereed prostetic hands in both places even though she didnt want them. mariatu desperately wanted to go live in canada and wouldnt take no for an answer. everntually she was able to. mariatu became accustued more to our language and culture and food and other things of that sort. she ended up being pretty happy in canada.
this book ws fantastic. at times i had to put it down because it was just so sad, but it was still amazing. it is by far my favourite non-fiction book there is.
Esmé N-F F8F
I rate this book 10 out of 10. I loved this book so much and thought it was very emotional and sad. Mariatu, a twelve year old girl experiences many horrific situations with rebels. She lived in a village with her family, and they had been warned about rebels taking over places. They had to move and hide so that they would not meet the rebels. When Mariatu has a bad dream after they have left they're village, she is sent to retrieve something from her village and crosses path with the rebels. They killed many people and cut off Mariatu's arm. I found this part awfully horrible and sad. I still didn't put it down and kept reading. Then later on in the story, she finds out that she is pregnant from a villager that had raped her. Her tragic life was made up of extremely unfortunate events. There's so much that happened in the book that it would be to long to summarize, although I know she gets to a hospital and is treated. She is then forced to beg for money to feed herself and her family. One day, there were journalists that came to where she was begging. She told her story to them and after that, she got help from a British man and a Canadian man. The journalists told a lie and said that the rebels raped her but that was not true and she never told the journalists that. The Canadian man sent clothes and money for Mariatu to use. The British man arranged for her to go to England to get prosthetic arms. Mariatu does not like the prosthetic arms when she gets them. She then gets a message from the Canadian sponsor, giving her a chance to come live in Canada. The way she described being in England was not pleasant so she chooses to go back to Sierra Leone to arrange the moving. It is hard for Mariatu to leave her family once again but it was the right thing to do. When she gets to Canada, she starts learning English and meets people that she eventually becomes friends with. She goes to a high school and adapts to her new country, Canada. This book caught my attention as soon as I started reading. I found it terribly sad and was very emotional. I definitely liked this book the best out of all the other books I have read so far in red maple.
Rebecca Scott 8H
I didn't really like this book very much. The storyline was good, but the writing wasn't done well, in my opinion. I thought it was very sad and I even cryed when Mariatu's baby died and when her hands were cut off by the child soldiers who couldn't have been older than her. I think that the book could have been longer though because when Mariatu came to Canada, it story started to get vague. I'd rate this book 6/10
Jackie Nelson F8G
This book "The Bite of the Mango" was unforgetable. I absolutely love it. I like how Mariatu writes as if this book is almost her diary. Considering Mariatu's age and condition, I think that this book was very emotional. It was very sad, and I felt like I could relate to this character because of her age. This book made me very intrigued, because I had no idea what would happen next. Although, I think that when Mariatu came to Canada, the writing could have been a bit more discriptive/detailed. I was confused about what was going on when she finally came to safety.
I would rate this book a 7.5/10.
abby 7h
this book was all of the unexpected. who would've thought that one girl could of done so many things in one life? mariatu had the most eventful life i think is possible. she was simply a 12 year old girl who lived in an african village when the rebels attacked. then her life was as following:
get her hands cut off
get raped
get pregnant and have c section birth
have her baby die
beg for money
move to england
get prosthetic hands
move back to sierre leone to get a visa to move to canada
move to canada
learn english
go to high school
and so much more it would take forever to write about. i rate it 7 out of 10 because it was sad and kind of scary although it was true.
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