Review of "Dumb" Orphans

[Kathryn Irwin]

[Following is a volunteer review of ""Dumb" Orphans" by Allan Low.]

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4 out of 5 stars

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"Dumb" Orphans was an excellent book. I appreciate how the author was able to talk about real issues going on in Southern Africa, while creating a story that children are going to have an easier time understanding. These issues include inequality amongst the poor and the privileged, lack of proper educational opportunities, and the HIV/AIDS crisis. I am giving this book 4 out of 5 stars. The story itself was engaging, and I had a wonderful time following Aiyasha and the Bundu Bunch along on their adventures. I also love how Elah took on the role of narration from Sipho; it added more depth to the story. The only reason this book did not receive 5 stars is because I found the timeline a bit confusing. As you read through the story, it is understood that some years pass between Book I, Book II, and Book III. However, there is no definitive timeline between events. I only had an idea of what was going on when the author would randomly mark how old a character was, but the range was quite large. The children are jumping from 7 to 23 to 39, but none of it is really explained in a way that makes sense. Overall, there was no sexual content in the book and no profanity. I found very few grammar errors. Page 221 had a slight grammar error where it says 'hope'. instead of 'hope.' The 1st person narration style is written in a way that reflects the narrator's age and where they are from, so I think it's perfectly fine that some of the sentence structure is not necessarily in line with traditional English rules. Otherwise, I don't think it would be believable that the narrators are children, and eventually adults, from Southern Africa.

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"Dumb" Orphans
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