Reviews

The Bite of the Mango by Mariatu Kamara with Susan McClelland Reviewed by: Jeel (Grade 10) Rating: 4/5. Living in a very peaceful and enjoying place, everyone coordinates with each other as well as shares their issues which are solved together. At the age of 12, a small girl named Mariatu had to flee from her village, Magborou, because of the terror of rebel attacks, younger than her, were killing many of the innocent people. This horrible terror had also resulted in Mariatu losing 2 arms. The first bite of a mango after this horrific attack has reaffirmed her desire to live. This is a real life story of Mariatu Kamara that shares her various different faced challenges and how she overcame them. Mariatu has faced many challenges that have impacted her physically and mentally. This book is an amazing story of a 12 year old girl who is now living in Toronto, Canada as a UNICEF special representative. Her journey of life gives us an inspiration to overcome and face our own challenges that might seem less challenging than Mariatu’s. Her life of living without arms has also resulted in a big difficulty in achieving or performing a daily life task such eating, drinking, getting dressed, etc. but her hope and courage still stands up first. This is a great book to read and I feel really proud of Mariatu. I would recommend this book to ages 10 and above due to some parts that may be more violent for some kids to handle.