Vision of multicultural America
It Takes a Village Hillary Rodham Clinton Illustrated by Marla Frazee
Chelsea did it, so why not Hillary? The former US secretary of state and presidential candidate has published her first picture book, It Takes a Village, a 117word adaptation of her bestselling 1996 book of the same name.
Unlike Hillary Clinton’s memoir, What Happened, the book contains no revelations about Bernie Sanders or Donald Trump; Clinton herself does not make an appearance. Aimed at preschoolers, It Takes a Village offers a universal, unifying message. It captures perfectly Clinton’s vision of a multicultural America working toward a constructive goal.
The book begins with essentially a blank canvas – a stretch of denuded ground – on which a group of people set out to build something beautiful and useful. Not a health-care plan or a safe space for refugees, but a playground.
Over the course of 28 pages, Clinton explains how to turn this vision into a reality. Not surprisingly, “it takes a village”, the African proverb at the centre of Clinton’s previous book, is the underlying message here.
The children have ideas; the adults have ideas – they must learn from each other, share, be kind and caring and find “the right tool to get the job done”.
There are the literal tools – ropes, hammers, shovels – but also the philosophical ones – “the village needs every one of us to help and every one of us to believe in each other.” There are faces of all shades here, helpers of all ages and abilities.
Despite the name of the author or the American flag-themed endpapers, the book avoids being overtly political. But the author’s note, written in the spring of 2016, haunts.
“Now more than ever,” Clinton writes, “we need to support children and families. And when the news is grim and or the odds seem long, look into the faces of children you know, and imagine what kind of country and world awaits them... This book is meant to spark a conversation with our youngest about what children can do to help make the world what they hope it will be.”
Dedicated to her grandchildren, It Takes a Village the picture book will now go head-to-head with another heavyweight in that category: Chelsea Clinton’s best-seller, She Persisted. Surely that’s a contest in which Hillary won’t mind coming second. – Washington Post
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Wolf Trap Consuelo Roland
The Wolf Trap is the latest release in the The Limbo trilogy, a literary suspense series set in Camps Bay, seaside playground for the rich. Wolf Trap, follows Lady Limbo, the first book in the trilogy, published to critical acclaim in 2012.
Paola Dante is a driven IT project manager employed by a multinational corporation.
She reads war strategy books for relaxation and generally prefers technology to people with their random uncontrolled emotions.
From a young age she’s believed matters of the heart are inherently messy and to be avoided.
But love surprises her; she had no resistance against Daniel de Luc.
One day her husband Daniel, now a writer of French crime novels, vanishes from their apartment without explanation.
After finding an unfinished manuscript he’s left behind she traces his disappearance back to a mysterious email and a tragic accident in their youth.
In Wolf Trap, Paola has assumed responsibility for caring for the vulnerable young girl who believes Daniel is her biological father.
She’s determined to make it work and move on from the shocking revelations surrounding her husband.
The truth is that ever since the night Daniel walked out on their marriage she’s found it hard to get on with normal life.
Matters spiral out of control and one day Paola arrives home to find Simone gone.
To save her daughter − and herself − once and for all, Paola will face her every fear, her every mistake, and the past she thought she’d finally processed and left behind.
About the author:
Roland’s debut novel, The Good Cemetery Guide, was shortlisted for the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and for the Olive Schreiner Award and appeared on a list of “30 Great Books Written by South Africans” compiled by the Centre for the Book. She lives in Cape Town.
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Colour Me Yellow Thuli Nhlapo
“I hated being pregnant with you. I used to cry the whole day. I hated carrying you in my stomach.”
Thuli Nhlapo grew up repeatedly hearing these words from her mother. She was 7 years old when she realised that no one called her by name. Known as “Yellow”, she was bullied at home and at school. Fearing she had a terrible disease, she withdrew into herself.
Years later, Thuli is still haunted by her childhood experiences. She confronts her mother about her real father and real surname. Getting no answers, Thuli embarks on years of searching for the truth. In the process, she uncovers unsettling family secrets that irrevocably change all their lives. – Mmatshilo Motsei About the author: Nhlapo has published books in Zulu and Swati. Colour Me Yellow is her first in English. She is based in Gauteng.
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