Of Beetles and Angels: A Boy's Remarkable Journey from a Refugee Camp to Harvard - Softcover

Asgedom, Mawi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0316826200 ISBN 13: 9780316826204

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2002

Synopsis

Read the remarkable true story of a young boy's journey from civil war in east Africa to a refugee camp in Sudan, to a childhood on welfare in an affluent American suburb, and eventually to a full-tuition scholarship at Harvard University.

Following his father's advice to "treat all people-even the most unsightly beetles-as though they were angels sent from heaven," Mawi overcomes the challenges of language barriers, cultural differences, racial prejudice, and financial disadvantage to build a fulfilling, successful life for himself in his new home.

Of Beetles and Angels is at once a harrowing survival story and a compelling examination of the refugee experience. With hundreds of thousands of copies sold since its initial publication, and as a frequent selection as one book/one school/one community reads, this unforgettable memoir continues to touch and inspire readers. This special expanded fifteenth anniversary edition includes a new introduction and afterword from the author, a discussion guide, and more.

About this title

About the Author

Mawi Asgedom is an author, sought-after speaker, and educator. He has inspired over one million students through his books, speeches, and award-winning online leadership courses. Oprah Winfrey called her interview with Mawi one of her top twenty moments, and Essence recognized Mawi as one of the "40 of the Most Inspiring African-Americans."

As a child, Mawi fled civil war in Ethiopia and survived a Sudanese refugee camp for three years. After being resettled in the United States, Mawi overcame poverty, language barriers, and personal tragedy to graduate cum laude from Harvard University, where he gave the commencement address to an audience of thirty thousand.

Mawi lives in Illinois with his family. He invites you to learn more about his work in education at MawiLearning.com.

From Booklist

When he was four years old, Asgedom's family left their war-ravaged home in Ethiopia. They spent three years in a Sudanese refugee camp before coming to the U.S. in 1983, where they were settled by World Relief in a wealthy white suburb near Chicago. He later earned a full scholarship to Harvard, where in 1999 he delivered the commencement address. His simple lyrical narrative, both wry and tender, stays true to the child's viewpoint as he grows up, taunted at school, but pretty bad and rough himself. His coming-of-age story is both darkened and enriched by the stories he hears about his parents' lives back home and by the pieces he remembers. At the center of the book is his father, a fierce family disciplinarian, once an all-powerful medical assistant at home, now reduced to a "beetle," unemployed, half-blind, raging at his dependency. Only at the very end, when Asgedom spells out the metaphor of the title, does the message overwhelm the story. What stays with you is the quiet, honest drama of a family's heartrending journey. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0316826200
• ISBN 13: 9780316826204
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192