This is a wonderfully written and an amazing novel by an amazing writer, Elizabeth Laird. This book is heart-warming, brilliant and can't be avoided which deals about two boys - Mamo and Dani and their lives, experiences and adventures. This is and will be one of the best books ever written and is definitely my favorite and is my winner. ( )

This novel is a realistic fiction of the life in Ethiopia, specifically Addis Ababa. The characters are well-developed, which allows the reader to get a real good sense of where the characters have been and why they are feeling the way they are feeling. The details of the traditions and culture of Ethiopia are portrayed accurately. Reading this book makes you want to delve deeper into the life of the people in Ethiopia.

For any child (or adult) interested in a child's view of living on the streets in Ethiopia.
As I've never lived on the streets I can't say if this is a bit too 'gentle' (but I suspect it is).
Very well written with excellent imagery described. ( )

Social realism/issue -- set in modern day Ethiopia. The story of two boys -- one very rich, one very poor -- who end up living on the street in an (honorable) street gang of beggars (not thieves)['godana's] -- with a democratically elected boss ['joviro'].

Mamo lives in a shack with his older sister, Tiggist, and the story opens a week after their mother (a bar fly) has died. When his sister is out looking for work, a strange man comes claiming to be his uncle and takes him away to give him a "job" -- but he really kidnaps him and sells him to a distant cattle farmer as a slave. Life is so harsh he tries to kill himself by eating poisonous weeds, but he lives -- and is re-born -- and runs away, back to Adis Abbaba to try to find his sister. Meanwhile she has found a job, but it has temporarily taken her out of the city.

The second story is about the boy Dani, a rich kid who is only good at writing stories and who is bullied by his father. When his mother has to go to the UK for an operation, his father threatens to send him to the country to a harsh disciplinarian, so Dani runs away.

Both boys meet while on the run -- in a cemetery where they hide and sleep until Mamo finds the basically good gang to join. Dani earns his begging keep by writing stories that Mamo sells -- which eventually leads Dani's old Amharic teacher and his father to find him. Mamo eventually finds his sister and a job with her new fiance's shop.

The book ends with the two of them bringing useful gifts back to the street gang. Mamo has a beautiful voice and Dani has a beautiful imagination. Both have a re-birth experience... (Xian overtones). The death of a beggar boy which affects them all... Revenge on the slaver via the written word.... Dani as a hero....

An introduction with glossary and an afterword identifying the authenticity of the situation/story. ( )