The main character of this story is Dhahabo, but he goes by a shorter, abbreviated name: Habo. The book is told from his perspective; he is a 13-year-old boy from Tanzania, and his name literally means “golden” in his native language. Unfortunately, his life is anything but golden; in fact, his life throughout the story is a nightmare. Habo epitomizes diversity in his culture unlike anyone else. Unlike his fellow Tanzanians with dark toned skin, Habo is an albino with lighter, white colored skin, blue eyes and blond hair. Not only does he appear different to his society’s civilians, he is also an essential “loner” character. He has few friends and little communication with his family. Due to his pale skin color and few friends, he has the nickname: Ghostboy. As a young boy, his father abandoned his entire family: he failed to believe he could have fathered a boy with Habo’s physical appearance. His mother rarely touches him, and his brother is essentially embarrassed of his abnormality. As the story goes on, Habo not only struggles for companionship, but also life. He learns from his aunt that body parts from albino persons are considered good luck; therefore, poachers exist strictly to hunt albino individuals. Habo learns of one city in Southern Africa where albino people are respected: Dar es Salaam. Initially, his family is going to accompany him on his travels to safety, but he fears his existence will jeopardize their lives; therefore, he travels alone. On his way to safety, he not only has to survive a superstitious poacher’s quest to kill him, named Alasiri, but he makes a paternal acquaintance. Ironically, Habo attempts to rob a blind man named Kweli so he can eat, but the two develop a close friendship throughout the novel. Kweli provides something Habo has never experienced: paternal guidance and paternal love.

 

 

 

 

 

            This story begins in a small village in Tanzania. The village is close to the larger city of Arusha and the deadly Mt. Kilimanjaro. Unfortunately, Habo’s family’s farm is seized from them early in the novel; the family must travel to Mwanza by bus and foot to live with Habo’s aunt. Unfortunately, Habo’s stay in Mwanza is short-lived, after learning of the safety present in Dar es Salaam; Habo must travel there if he hopes to survive. Unfortunately, Habo and his family met Alasiri on their way to Mwanza, and Alasiri poaches living organisms for their body parts which he intends to sell to people who believe albino body parts will bring them superior luck. After he sees Habo’s albino skin, he instantly wants Habo’s hair, legs and hands. By several methods of travel, Habo spends a majority of the novel traveling with the intent of reaching Dar es Salaam safely. Dar es Salaam is a larger city in Tanzania with several albino authority figures. The city lies on the coast of the Indian Ocean, and if Habo makes it to Dar es Salaam alive, he will no longer be hunted.

            During the book, I learned several things about Habo, but mainly that being alone isn’t the end of the world for him. He spends most of his pre-adolescence alone, and his first major friend in life is Kweli: a blind man who is much older than Habo. Honestly, his independence and ability to accept being alone prevents his family from encountering serious danger. He courageously travels to Dar es Salaam for freedom on his own, and even though his family gives him what little money they have, their absence from his trip prevents any chance of his family being injured during Alasiri’s attempt to kill Habo. Also, this story is another coming of age novel; Habo matures greatly during this novel. Not only did Habo exhibit bravery to help his family, he learned about terror present in the world. More importantly, he learned how to make a friend in this book, something which looked impossible when the book began; therefore, it is obvious that any person can find a friend as long as he or she is honest and acts as him or herself.

 

 

 

           

             This was a complex novel. Habo struggles to find friendship in his small village in Tanzania, and his family isn’t very close with him. Unfortunately, his family’s farm is seized, forcing Habo and his family to move to Mwanza with Habo’s aunt. The journey is quite long. Habo’s family initially travels by bus, but they run out money; therefore, they have to walk the remainder of the distance. A majority of the journey is through a park, the Serengeti National Park, and Habo’s family attempts to infiltrate the area’s local civilians to avoid paying park fees. Eventually, a man in a Jeep notices Habo and his family walking, and he offers to give them a ride. He introduces himself as Alasiri, but Habo and his brother Chui soon learn that he is a poacher. He enlists their help with butchering an elephant for its ivory, toenails and teeth that he intends to sell to a witch doctor. Poachers exist in this book to sell certain body parts to superstitious individuals: certain body parts of certain living organisms provide good luck to the owner. Habo thinks Alasiri acts odd when he sells the elephant parts to a witch doctor, and ironically, Habo was correct when he questioned Alasiri’s odd behavior.

            Later, Habo and his family arrive in Mwanza at his aunt’s home, and even though she is excited to meet Habo, she disallows him to stay. She warns Habo’s family that poachers hunt albino individuals to sell their hair, legs and hands to witch doctors. Habo realizes that Alasiri’s bizarre behavior was because he intends to hunt Habo and sell certain body parts to the witch doctor: albino body parts will sell for thousands of dollars to superstitious individuals. Habo’s aunt allows the family to stay until they can save enough money to travel to Dar es Salaam. According to Habo’s aunt, Dar es Salaam is the lone safe area in Tanzania for albino individuals; in fact, several of the government officials there are albino. Habo feels guilty as he watches his family work for money in Mwanza, but his entire family fears for his safety after already witnessing Alasiri poach an elephant for body parts. Unfortunately, Alasiri discovers the family’s location, but Habo escapes by himself; he doesn’t want to put his family in additional danger, so he travels alone with his family’s hard-earned money.

            Even though Habo is able to escape from Alasiri, traveling from town to town in a speedy fashion, he begins to starve. With his options limited, he decides to rob a blind man for food, but the blind man catches Habo during his act of thievery. Ironically, the blind man neither reports Habo’s act of thievery, nor tries to hurt him. Instead, he makes Habo his assistant. The blind man introduces himself as Kweli, and he makes things from carving wood. Habo begins to build a strong bond with Kweli; in fact, Kweli essentially becomes the first father figure in Habo’s life. Kweli even introduces Habo to his granddaughter: Davu. Habo feels comfortable with Kweli; he helps sell Kweli’s carvings and he even learns to carve himself. Habo finally gains friendship and learns that he is a likable person. He enjoys his time with Kweli and Davu, and for the first time he feels comfortable about life, but of course he tells Kweli about Alasiri and his own fear of being found. Unfortunately, one night, Habo returns and notices Kweli speaking with Alasiri. Alasiri wants Kweli to make him a carving from an elephant’s ivory, but Kweli refuses. Habo informs Kweli that the man was Alasiri, and Kweli tries to help Habo survive Alasiri’s later attach on Habo’s life.