On joy of nurturing one’s child from grass to grace
Title: ‘The Star Child’ Author: Mary Uduak-Obong Alao Publisher: Sansegs Prints, Nigeria Date of publication: 2016 Number of pages: 105 ISBN: 978-978-955-177-4 Price: Not Stated Reviewer: Shittu Ahmed Obassa When you pick a book from the shelf of a library, one of the first things you may intend to know is what exactly is contained in the book, more so if the writer is an upcoming personality like Mary Uduak-Obong Alao.
You can hardly resist the temptation to shine your eyes to be sure that the storyline is worth your while by reading the synopsis which is usually published at the back of the book. And this is what the book titled: ‘The Star Child’ (30 pp.) lacks. But give it the benefit of the doubt you may have as I did ab initio, it will thrill you beyond your expectations. For this is a product of an innocent, gifted mind as she has written three genres of literature, namely, fiction, drama and poetry put together for the reader’s pleasure.
After glancing through the first chapter of her prose I was left spell bound by the writer’s flow of thought and the message which is straightforward and simple. Indeed, it is an excellent literary work that depicts the efforts of contemporary Nigerian families towards bringing up their children to be not just desirable elements but responsible citizens fulfilling their destinies in life. Empowering a budding literary talent like Uduak-Obong is the right thing to do as I envision her as a focused young person and the one most likely to fly the flag of the Alaos higher and higher in view of the untapped literary potential in this girl.
Her book showcases the triple role of the present-day Nigerian woman first as a daughter, wife and lastly a mother who is poised to transfer those cherished values she has imbibed to her own adolescent girl, “Ime” by keeping an eye on her growth and development so that she can realise her full potentials.
Similarly, in the fiction, the author portrays the dilemma of the adolescent in societies such as ours and how a vigilant mother’s support can effectively encourage the girl child to attain full potential and even contribute to national development.
‘The Star Child’ is a book that paints the reality in contemporary Nigeria where many families now set out goals and targets as demonstrated in the play titled: ‘The Diary of Alero’ (71pp) .
`Ime’ in the prose and Alero in the play are both ideal characters worthy of emulation in their ways considering their determination and courage to excel in their chosen fields of human endeavour.
The play has a good plot, which is very simple and revolves around Alero as the protagonist in the play and her antagonists Malory and her friends.
The arrangement of incidence also revolves around the principal character in the play, she has also craftily adopted the diction, thought, spectacle along the conception of verisimilitude.
The main character was determined to pursue her studies and excel despite her challenges and the antagonists in the play who connived amongst themselves to destabilize Ime the hero in the prose.
Subsequently, the author deployed four pages of poetry to ensure adequate poetic justice to the play where the antagonist were put on probation and they were also made to repeat a year similarly the protagonist in the play graduated with excellent grade i.e. from grass to grace.
At 13, Uduak-Obong’s literary efforts are highly commendable even though there are few errors. For a beginner such as she is, there are bound to be some lapses in the plot and style of delivery. She should be amenable to criticism as she grows older in the art of writing.
When you read her book which was launched on December 16, 2016, in Kaduna, just remember that it is the work of a teen author putting out her first effort at communicating with the world outside her cocoon. Therefore I am impressed with this very first outing in an imperfect world we all live in.
It will also be very rewarding to the writer if the book is broken into three separate genres when she is older and her world view gets broadened so as to be able to treat the subjects-matter adequately for the youth to appreciate the fact that “life is not a bed of roses”.
I will further suggest to the author that she includes a summary of book at the back of the next edition just as in all her future works. A summary about why the book was written will also whet the appetite of the reading public.