Bulawayo, NoViolet

The anthropomorphic motif has been effectively employed in adult literature like Animal Farm or Watership Down but feels distracting here, creating an emotional distance between the reader and the four-legged characters. Perhaps through living, breathing human beings, Bulawayo could have better amplified the grim reality of those living under oppressive governments and the courage required to rise up in glory.

As Bulawayo effortlessly captures the innate loneliness of those who trade the comfort of their own land for the opportunities of another, Darling emerges as the freshest voice yet to spring from the fertile imaginations of talented young writers like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Dinaw Mengestu, who explore the African diaspora in America. [See Prepub Alert, 11/19/12.]