'Ik heet Aman en ik ga de hele wereld mijn verhaal vertellen.' In dit levendige en unieke boek vertelt een moderne, charismatische Afrikaanse vrouw, het huiveringwekkende relaas van haar avontuurlijke leven. Aman is een openhartig en uiterst persoonlijk verhaal van de strijd van een jong -meisje in haar groei naar volwassenheid, en een boeiend verslag van de snelle maatschappelijke veranderingen in Noordoost-Afrika.

Leest heel vlot en geeft heel mooie inkijk in de Somalische cultuur van vorige eeuw, een cultuur die ik nog totaal niet kende. Speelt zich af in jaren 50 en 60, dus geeft geen beeld van de huidige Somalische cultuur, maar is toch al belangrijk begin.
Leuke extra is dat er eerst uitgelegd wordt hoe het boek tot stand gekomen is en er nadien een zeer uitgebreide toelichting staat over zowel de politieke situatie in Somalië, maar ook over de cultuur, met af en toe koppelingen naar het verhaal (waarbij je dus ook hier en daar feedback krijgt wat uit het verhaal typisch en atypisch is voor de hele samenleving). ( )

Conforms to my rule of thumb that the scholarly preface should be read after the book proper. The actual narrative, by "Aman" (a pseudonym she chose) is great - covering her personal history starting with her grandmother's and mother's adventures, then her own childhood[*] and attempts to figure out what she wants from life and marriage during her teenage years in a changing society. From her birth village to the streets of Mogadishu, and eventually farther afield - and the preface makes it clear she's journeyed farther yet subsequent to where she closes her story.

[*] As I write this I'm having flashbacks to writing something similar about the structure of Zorro, an otherwise extremely different book. ( )

Reviewed by kelsey (Class of 2014)

She lost the love of her life. She lost her family’s respect. She lost her dignity. Aman is the story of a young girl in Somali, Africa, named Aman. Aman recounted her life story to Virginia Barnes and Janice Boddy who wrote this book. The book begins by Aman explaining to the reader some background knowledge about herself. She starts talking about her grandmamma, and leads into the birth of her mother. Aman explains the journey that her mamma had gone through, with having one husband after the other and struggling to make money. In this book Aman spends the majority of the book trying to explain the rules and traditions of the Somalian culture. One of the most important events in Aman is when she is being circumcised, which isn’t common for girls in America. When they become of age, girls are supposed to be circumcised; this involves cutting and sewing up the vagina, so that the girl could be pure for her future husband.
When Aman grows older she falls in love with an Italian, but it was a disgrace to his and her families for whites and blacks to be together. They endure many beatings from multiple people who disagree with their decision. Soon enough her lover is forced to move back to Italy. She tries and fails many marriages to try and heal her pain, but nothing works. Aman soon feels left out and tries to make new friends. During the post years of her lover leaving her behind, Aman is raped and devirginized by a man she barely knew. This was a huge disgrace and she decided to stay inside her house for a long time. Over the next few years, after Aman gains the strength to leave her home, Aman began sleeping around and became pregnant and gave birth to a son but doesn’t know who the father is. A couple years later, she had trouble finding money, so her friend Laila convinces her to become a prostitute like herself. After a while Aman realizes she is pregnant again, but the baby dies. In the end, Aman decides to go back home and live with her mom and her son.
I think that this book was interesting because it shows different cultures and also because it is pretty adventurous because of all the drama with her family and friends. A lot of events go on that don’t happen in the average person’s life in America like when Aman was beat. What I don’t like about this book is how long it takes for the exciting things to happen, and how boring the first 10 chapters are. That is mostly because it’s all background information and setting the story. After reading this book, out of five stars I rate it at a four. Aside from the length, this book can be a great way to learn about the reality of some other countries and how difficult some peoples’ life can be. ( )

Reviewed by Nicole (Class of 2014)

Most people know very little about what it’s like growing up in another culture. Aman is a true story of a young Somali girl who endured many hardships during her lifetime. In 1982, she moved to the U.S. where she met Virginia Lee Barnes, an anthropologist who had worked in Somalia, and that’s how the story came to be. Lee translated Aman’s story, and sent it to the publishers.
Growing up with very little food or money in a small town called Mango Village, Aman’s main goal was to provide for her momma. She was circumcised at age 9 and by age 13, Aman was already married to a much older man who attempted to cut her open. Aman ran away many times but somehow always ended up back in the hands of her husband, whom she hated. Many times she tried for a divorce, but it wasn’t her decision. So, she ran away again, this time to the city and found a white Italian boy, with whom she fell in love. In Somalia, interracial couples were looked down upon. Aman got herself into much trouble trying to see the boy she loved, but in the end he was taken away by his father. She then began running around meeting many men, one who raped her. Aman was now looked down upon, because she wasn’t a virgin anymore. These men gave her money and she sent some back to her mother. Aman was now becoming the girl that “ran around with white men.” Even her mother was disappointed. She became pregnant, and didn’t know who the father was. Her mother took care of the child most of the time. Aman became pregnant once more by a man named Paul. Soon after, she met a woman named Laila, and they used prostitution to make a living. But soon Aman was put into the hospital, where she lost her baby. She then went back to live with her mom and first child. So much happens in such a short time during Aman’s life.
This book is an excellent look at a young girl’s outlook on life, her customs, love and pain. You’ll learn about what it takes to survive in Somalia as a teenage girl, and how Aman goes against her culture for her own survival and happiness. The beginning starts off slow, but by the end of the first few chapters, I was hooked. It’s interesting to see how different my life is from Aman’s. Overall, I loved this book and would recommend it to teenage girls, interested in culture, love, and adventure. ( )