In Auma's African village people are dying at an alarming rate. When her father comes home from his job in Nairobi, to never return, Auma's life is changed irrevocably. As she witnesses the mysterious disease firsthand, Auma questions what is really happening to the adults in the village. Why are the elders and children being spared as adults succumb to the illness? Auma is determined to filter through misinformation and superstition to find a way of helping her family and someday the people in her community. Through her running she hopes to win a scholarship to secondary school and later college so she can become a doctor and find a cure for the devastating illness AIDS.

This is a powerful story that shows the plight of many children. How do you survive when the adults around you are dying of AIDS? How do you survive as orphans with limited prospects for the future? My heart was breaking for Auma as she constantly had to push against cultural norms for females in her culture.

This would be a wonderful read for a book group with not only the topic of AIDS, but also health care, education, and cultural expectations in different parts of the world. I would recommend to anyone upper middle grade to adults. Thank you Eucabeth Odhiambo for this amazing book.

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Auma's Long Run
by Eucabeth Odhiambo
Lerner Publishing Group
Carolrhoda Books
Children's Fiction , Middle Grade
Pub Date 01 Sep 2017
Archive Date 15 Aug 2017
I am voluntarily reviewing a copy of Auma's Long Run through Lerner Publishing Group and Netgalley:
Auma was born face down, the midwife believed that she was dead. Everyone in Koromo believed that babies born face down wouldn't live to see the second day of life, but Auma proved them wrong.
No one remembered her learning to walk, Auma ran. But one day her legs start acting, she longs for running shoes. Not only is Auma the fastest runner in school but she excels in academics as well.
Soon people all over Kenya start dying without explanation. Auma does not dream of running though she dreams of being a doctor.
Some doctors are quick to say its Malaria, but Auma soon learns it is not Malaria but a new disease called AIDS.
Just a few months after her Baba comes home from work in the city, he too is dead from the new disease called AIDS.
Many men believe if they sleep with a virgin they will be cured, and while fetching water Auma is nearly raped.
Soon her Mother becomes ill as well and Auma has to quit school to help with the family.
I give Auma's Long Run five out of five stars!
Happy Reading!

A devastating story, yet Auma is filled with strength and determination but is also responsible and sometimes does what she doesn't want to do, but must to help her family. Fortunately the ending gives you (and Auma) a thin slice of hope.

Auma is a great, talented runner. She is a strong, responsible, determined young lady. It is sad that AIDS effects her father.

All the respect to Eucabeth Odhiambo, a teacher of teachers, for writing this powerful book for young readers about a monumentally serious subject: the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and its effects on a generation of orphans. As seen through the eyes of frightened yet capable 13-year old Auma, who lives in a small village in Kenya, where she and her best friend Abeth attend KaPeter Primary School. I loved how Auma's parents spoke to her in ways that made her feel loved and special, but also motivated her to work hard. I noted with appreciation how her brothers, though clearly growing into young men, were not too proud to help their sisters with what's considered women's work. It is such a shame that plagues do happen, and that survivors are made to suffer and sacrifice, but somehow still this book is actually uplifting!

E ARC from Netgalley.com

Auma has a very fortunate life in her Kenyan village. Her father works in Nairobi, but comes home from time to time, bringing presents and encouraging Auma in her dream to be a doctor. Because he earns a good income, she is able to afford to go to school. When he comes home this time, however, he stays for longer, and is suffering from an undisclosed illness. Is it malaria? Many people have been dying in Auma's village, which makes her want to pursue medical studies even more, especially when Mama Karen tells her about a new disease that seems to be striking many people, especially those who work in large cities, like Auma's father. It is the "slim disease" or AIDS, and weakens people so much that they die from a number of unrealated causes. When her mother also becomes ill, Auma tries to locate a treatment for her, but ends up with her grandmother after her mother's death. Her grandmother wants her to marry, but Auma is not willing to give up her dream of being educated. Thanks to her athletic ability, she is granted a scholarship to high school. She is sad to leave her younger sister and grandmother, but knows that getting an education is the only way to make her life better.
Strengths: Excellent #ownvoices look at Kenya at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. This is something that students today hear very little about. I also think it is important for my students to understand that in other places in the world, people have to pay to go to school. The details of every day life are also exquisite; we need more books set in other parts of the world that talk about how other tweens live. Great cover. Pair this with Jan Michael's City Boy (2009), about AIDS in Malawi and how it affects families there.
Weaknesses: The running isn't talked about as much as the cover and title would indicate.
What I really think: Well written, engaging, a great length. I hope to see more books by this author!

This is a sobering, but important, look at how HIV/AIDS impacted Kenyan citizens in its infancy. Auma's story highlights the lack of education and misinformation surrounding the virus, and gives insight into one way in which the spread so rapidly. The impact on Kenyan children, who were forced to grow up and take on responsibility for their families, was hard to absorb, but the hope that Auma had for her future was inspiring. This was an excellent read, and I'd definitely recommend it.

From the beginning this book does a wonderful job of imagery, which will be jarringly unfamiliar for American children. At the beginning of the book, Auma lives relatively happily in her family compound (although she is beaten by a teacher for not finishing a race fast enough) amidst the unexplained deaths happening in her village. Auma isn't like most other girls in her village (where the school has no electricity). She wants to become a doctor, which will require her to leave the area and earn a scholarship. The AIDS epidemic is invading her rural village, but no ones knows what exactly how the disease is spread, although whispered rumors abound. Life for Auma changes drastically after her own father dies of AIDS and her mother also becomes ill. Her family's situation is desperate, and Auma tries to keep everything together for her siblings. Nothing about her life is easy or fair--her mother confides to her that her father had a mistress in the city that had given him AIDS and he'd infected her as well. Auma has to reconcile her anger and feelings of betrayal while figuring out a way to help her remaining family survive without completely abandoning her dreams.

What an impressive debut novel! This book delves into a challenging reality faced by many, with engaging well developed characters, while offering hope for exploring new approaches.

An engaging and interesting book that younger children would really love.