June 2015 - Hidden Girl

We are doing a short turn around to over next book club discussion on the book "Hidden Girl: The True Story of a Modern-Day Child Slave" by Shyima Hall.

Here'as a Book Summary:

Shyima Hall was born in Egypt on September 29, 1989, the seventh child of desperately poor parents. When she was eight, her parents sold her into slavery. Shyima then moved two hours away to Egypt’s capitol city of Cairo to live with a wealthy family and serve them eighteen hours a day, seven days a week. When she was ten, her captors moved to Orange County, California, and smuggled Shyima with them. Two years later, an anonymous call from a neighbor brought about the end of Shyima’s servitude—but her journey to true freedom was far from over.

A volunteer at her local police department since she was a teenager, Shyima is passionate about helping to rescue others who are in bondage. Now a US citizen, she regularly speaks out about human trafficking and intends to one day become an immigration officer. In Hidden Girl, Shyima candidly reveals how she overcame her harrowing circumstances and brings vital awareness to a timely and relevant topic.

We will be meeting in the East Bay neighbourhood to a member's request. We will be meeting very close to the Rockridge BART station at the Bittersweet Cafe, 5427 College Avenue, Oakland on Sunday June 7th at 2pm.

NEXT BOOKS TO READ:

July - Philida by Andre Brink
August - Island of a thousand mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
September - Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez

May 2015 - The Queen of Katwe

Hi everyone! We are meeting on Sunday May 24 during Memorial Day weekend to discuss the book "The Queen of Katwe, A Story of Life, Chess and One Extraordinary Girl's Dream of becoming a Grandmaster" by Tim Crothers.

Here's a Book Summary:
PHIONA MUTESI sleeps in a decrepit shack with her mother and three siblings and struggles to find a single meal each day. Phiona has been out of school most of her life because her mother cannot afford it, so
she is only now learning to read and write. Phiona Mutesi is also one of the best chess players in the world. 

One day in 2005, while searching for food, nine-year-old Phiona followed her brother to a dusty veranda where she met Robert Katende, who had also grown up in the Kampala slums. Katende, a war refugee turned missionary, had an improbable dream: to empower kids through chess—a game so foreign there is no word for it in their native language. Laying a chessboard in the dirt of the Katwe slum, Robert painstakingly taught the game each day.
When he left at night, slum kids played on with bottlecaps on scraps of cardboard. At first they came for a free bowl of porridge, but many grew to love chess, a game that—like their daily lives—means persevering against great obstacles. Of these kids, one stood out as an immense talent: Phiona. 

By the age of eleven Phiona was her country’s junior champion and at fifteen, the national champion. In September 2010, she traveled to Siberia, a rare journey out of Katwe, to compete in the Chess Olympiad, the world’s most prestigious team-chess event.
Phiona’s dream is to one day become a Grandmaster, the most elite title in chess. But to reach that goal, she must grapple with everyday life in one of the world’s most unstable countries, a place where girls are taught to be mothers, not dreamers, and the threats of AIDS, kidnapping, and starvation loom over the people. 

Next Books to Read:
Sunday June 7 - Hidden Girl by Shyima Hall
July - Philida by Andre Brink
August - Island of Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
September - Kabul Beauty School by Deborah Rodriguez