Round Two Reviews from Team Dickens:
Diamond Boy by Michael
Williams. “Patson is a young man that goes through quite the number of
changes in a short period of time. “Diamonds for everyone” is what attracts
potential miners to the Marange Diamond Fields. The tale begins with
Patson’s family searching for a better life to Patson mining for diamonds to
searching for his missing sister. The reader is taken along Patson’s
grueling journey from Zimbabwe to South Africa.”
Circulation
Desk, Library
“Diamond
Boy is a captivating read. Simon is an entertaining and enjoyable
read. Would I recommend both to teens? Absolutely! Wholeheartedly. The
difference is that Diamond Boy is a book for readers to really sink
their teeth into - higher level readers, maybe, but also readers who want a
challenge. Some may say that our demographic of students wouldn’t have much to
relate to in this novel, but I would strongly challenge that line of thinking.
The challenges that Patson endures, and the lessons he learns are universal.
How do we cope with change? What action do we take when things go awry? What
role does our family play in our lives? When we feel like we can’t go on, do we
give up or do we persevere? The reader will be faced with all these questions
and more as they turn the pages of Diamond Boy. “
K.Laurie, Room 105
"Diamond boy
– an intense, emotional book that has the ability to make the reader laugh, cry
and ponder life.
“Diamonds
for everyone” is what sets the book into motion. The lure of a better
life, in a country one can only truly imagine what it is like living there,
allows readers to gain another perspective on what some people go
through. This book is an excellent read to help promote empathy and
understanding for others.
This will
change the way you look at diamonds forever!"
K. Blush, Room 125
"Diamonds for everyone. This is the belief that the central characters
hold on to as they journey to the dangerous Marange diamond fields in Zimbabwe.
As a Canadian reader, your eyes are opened to an entirely different and risky
way of life as you follow fifteen-year-old Patson Moyo into the gritty and
duplicitous world of the illegal diamond trade. Sadistic and ruthless
characters like General Jesus are plentiful, but thankfully balanced by the anti-hero,
Boubacar - who acts as Patson’s protector - and the innocence of some of the
young children working the fields, like Patson’s friend, Arves.
While I thoroughly enjoyed
our other novel, Simon versus the Homo
Sapien Agenda, it doesn’t carry the ethical weight of Michael William’s Diamond Boy. In Canada, where we’re
facing a time of economic uncertainty - obviously incomparable to that of
Zimbabwe - and an influx of refugees fleeing a despotic government, Diamond Boy is a timely and important
book for teens and adults alike to shed some well-needed perspective on our
issues."
C. Powell, Room 114
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