RaveThe New York Journal of BooksIlluminating and uplifting, I Am a Girl from Africa is a must-read ... While I Am a Girl from Africa deals with the heavy subjects of HIV/AIDS, food insecurity, and women’s roles in development, the book’s tone is hopeful, even playful. Nyamayaro masterfully brings in African cultural concepts to uplift a story that could become dark. She sprinkles Shona language into the text and uses the Bantu tendency to double a word for emphasis. Each chapter begins with a proverb from a different African country. This gives the book a feeling of authenticity ... This book has larger themes that make it deserving of a wider readership than one might expect at first glance ... Perhaps most important, in this slim memoir there is a plan for creating real and lasting change that can be applied to any number of intractable social ills ... Nyamayaro gives a beautiful example of the powerful messages of heretofore unheard voices. This book demands that we listen ... If you’re a woman, a person of color, an immigrant, someone who has experienced hardship, has a medical issue, or who simply wants to read a story that will both inspire and make you smile, pick up a copy of I Am a Girl from Africa. You likely will not put it down until you’ve read it cover to cover.
