PS- this author has been interviewed on this blog. You can check out the interview here!
Book Title: Trauma
Author: Adekola Temitayo.
Published: 2021
My Rating: 4.72/5.0.⭐️ A simple, short story with themes like Dyslexia, Sickle Cell Anemia, Mental Health and some Traditional & Cultural Misconceptions, particularly of the Yoruba Tribe (I RECOMMEND!)
Imagine being deeply cut ON YOUR FACE several times with a special blade as a child. No, don’t think of just the pain, think of the fact that you will have to live with these marks forever. You have no choice…. The marks will always be something that defines you.
And all this is because of a misconception. Do you feel outraged just imagining it? Then you’ll understand why books like this one are necessary.
So for some backstory…..:
I was asked to read/review this book a few weeks ago by the author…. It’s a very short book but it took me quite a while to finish it and get to reviewing it (because I had other things on my plate)
But here we are now. So let’s get right into the review…..!
What really stood out to me, in this book is how educative it is. The author’s writing style is smooth and comfy, with clear, concise and easy to understand explanations of each concept included in the story.
This book takes a stab at creating awareness mainly on two important societal topics: Dyslexia and Sickle Cell Anemia through the lives of its two main characters: Ayodele and AJ respectively.
“Children with dyslexia should be treated with love and understanding. LOVE is the keyword here, parents, teachers, guardians, family members, friends of any dyslexic patient should understand that they didn’t choose to be dyslexic and the more reason we should help them get better together.”
Dr Ademola
Ayodele is a boy with dyslexia who is constantly harassed and bullied both at home and at school for being an “olodo”, a Nigerian slang used to describe someone who is a dullard. Ayodele knows he is different from others, but he has no idea why.
“According to Yoruba’s tradition, if a woman gives birth to a child and the child dies before becoming an adult, such a child is called “Abiku” especially if the process of giving birth and dying of the child keeps recurring.”
AJ
AJ, who attends the same school as Ayodele on the other hand, is very intelligent but depressed and seemingly cold. He is constantly castigated for being an “Abiku” due to the tribal markings on his face which his family agreed should be given to him when he was just 5 years old, in other to stop his continuous health issues and to prevent him from dying so young as their other kids had.
In reality as he later discovered,the reason for his continued weakness/sickness was not due to “Abiku” but because of the fact that he had Sickle Cell Anemia, due to his parent’s ignorance (they both had AS blood genotypes) And as you can imagine, this makes AJ resent his parents, especially his father who constantly verbally abused him.
The book takes us through the development of a strong friendship between Ayodele and AJ as they get to understand each others pains and struggles.
The story comes to a rather unexpected end with a twist that really shocked me and only served to emphasize why awareness on these topics should be promoted. And I can’t tell you how it ended, because that would be a MAJOR spoiler!
If you’re interested in reading this book too, here’s the link to get it! (Soft copies ;PDFs/EPUBs are available, plus it’s very affordable; you can see for yourself through the link!)
The Author really has a flair for writing interesting and educative biopsychosocial themed books as seen in his other books as well as this one.
Did you enjoy this review?. Have you read this book?. Please let me know your thoughts about it in the comment section below!.
You can also check out my interview of the author here: Young and Booked Series 1: Episode 19💐
If you’re an Author and you’d like to request a review for your book, please see my review policy!
Yours truly,
Keno✍️.
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