Packs a powerful little punch
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The blurb
Samkad dreams of becoming a mighty headhunter like his father, carrying his own weapons and etching tattoos across his chest to proclaim his greatness as a warrior. His best friend is a girl his age, Little Luki and Little Luki wants to become a mighty warrior too ... except in their culture, girls don't grow up to become warriors.
The two friends have no idea about the world outside their isolated mountain village until a boy from the Lowlands turns up ... a boy who can speak many tongues and who tells stories about the world outside that seem ridiculous and unbelievable especially the part about invaders called 'Americans' who are coming to take over the village.
The Review
This is a fantastic and skilfully written Young Adult fiction book about life as part of a tribe in the Philippines. Set at the end of the nineteenth century, it looks at a time when American invaders were arriving and turning the native lives upside down.
The story is told from Samkad‘s point of view, at an exciting time in his life. He is just about to become a man and with that, earn all the respect and expectations that come along with it. But something gets in he way of his ceremony and the action unfolds from there.
The story grabbed me from the offset. The friendship between Samkad and Luki is so authentic and I have to admit, she was my favourite character.
Luki rebels againat the tribal expectation of what she should become as a female. She wants more from her life. She wants to be a warrior. This narrative was great, and I really hope young girls read this book and can see the parallels in their own life’s - not to let your society dictate what or who you can be.
There is a lot of violence in this book and although not too gory, it doesn’t shy away from descriptions of death. But I found this really carefully done - you can read YA books where the main characters make huge errors, and yet because fiction allows it, there seem to be no consequences. Gourlay doesn’t allow this and good for her! As in life, if you make a grave mistake, then you have to expect there will be consequences and Samkad certainly learns this to his horror.
I haven’t even begun to touch on my feelings for the American soldiers that force their way in, mocking the tribes’ way of life and exploiting them as soon as they can, with blatant disrespect for theit indigenous culture. That this is an accurate portrayal of what has happened to thousands of indigenous tribes, I have no doubt, and it made my soul ache a little.
All in all, this was a great YA fiction read that covers so many important topics, without being at all preachy or condescending.
I read this, as part of my goal to read all the shortlisted books for Carnegie 2019.