A strong piece, that is a touch awkward in structure, but highly effective in emotion. It's about a girl who loves all her little siblings, and who is very much a part of her family – but practically as soon as she's starting to mature, an uncle character wants to sell her off as a child bride. There is going to have to be a bad sacrifice, at least – and here that's the girl giving up her place in school, and in her family, just to have the freedom to live as a girl should.

The end matter discusses Cameroon and the situation there at great length – so it should, for this Adi was a real girl and there are countless others in the same boat as her. What it doesn't do is go into the whole thing about girls getting wedded off for dowries when they've barely had their second menses, and certainly there's no finger-pointing at this being an Islamic idea. It's just a nasty habit, these pages would imply, with no actual cause that might, you know, actually be stopped. And so you can move as many girls as you can, as in this colourful volume – but the intent to keep them tied down as married juveniles? That stays in the same place, right in the culture.

So this is shooting at the wrong target, but it's a pretty arrow. The text is often in just a small window of blank page, with the rest given over to a traditional, local pattern of colour. The artwork has the earthiness of the country and her people. I did have a hiccup about how much of this was a back-story, for things aren't entirely A-B, but the earnestness of the creators and the obvious hellishness of Adi's plight does make for a justifiably intense piece of drama for those ten and up.

This book has so many elements I love: an author bringing his culture to readers outside of Cameroon, a book that addresses early marriage and the challenges faced even by parents who don't want this for their daughters, and the illustrations by Marc Daniau which are so full of action and life. My only complaint: the book felt more like a picture book for older kids, not a middle grade novel. I think Adi's story and all she was thinking and feeling could have been fleshed out into a longer novel for 10-12 year olds. I definitely wanted to read more about her.

I loved this story but I was distracted by the illustrations -- they were so beautiful I wanted to turn them into posters for my room. The use of color is amazing, as was the detail.
This is based on a true story in Cameroon, a place I know little about. Adi is only 12 and her uncle is demanding she be married off against her will, so her dad takes Adi to a wonderful and supportive place where she will be safe and where she can become more educated.
Adi is safe in her new home and her spirit comes back. The couple running the place helped many young people learn skills they would need to work.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this