Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

Tags: blend of cultures

Hunger of Memory : The Education of Richard Rodriguez
by Richard Rodriguez
Hunger of Memory is the story of Mexican-American Richard Rodriguez, who begins his schooling in Sacramento, California, knowing just 50 words of English, and concludes his university studies in the stately quiet of the reading room of the British Museum. Here is the poignant journey of a “minority student” who pays the cost of his social assimilation and academic success with a painful alienation — from his... (more)
Ake: The Years of Childhood
by Wole Soyinka
When he was 4 years old, spurred by insatiable curiosity and the beat of a marching drum, Wole Soyinka slipped silently through the gate of his parents' yard and followed a police band to a distant village. This was his first journey beyond Aké, Nigeria, and reading his account is akin to witnessing a child's epiphany: The parsonage wall had vanished forever but it no longer mattered. Those token bits and... (more)