Title: The Bitter Side of Sweet
Author: Tara Sullivan
Pages: 299
Finished: 4/19/17
First Sentence: I count the things that matter.
Summary: Amadou and his little brother Seydou work as child slaves on a cacao farm on the Ivory Coast. The work is hard, and the bosses are abusive, but the boys have no where to run. That is, until Khadija arrives. Khadija has no intention of being a slave, and even though she keeps getting kicked down, her spirit seeps into Amadou. Perhaps they can escape this hell they live in.
Thoughts: This is the type of book that I hate being on the Caudill list. The list is for 3rd to 8th graders, but this is really only appropriate for perhaps 7th grade and up? Boys get beat for not doing the work. A girl gets raped. It's tough to read. The only way I could continue with this book was by reading the last chapter and the epilogue. I had to know it ended up okay so I could get through the darkness.
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