Written by Naman Anil Kumar, a grade 8 student.

Books are the mirrors of our life. The American author Garrison Keillor says, “A book is a gift you can open again and again”. Earnest Hemingway, of America’s best writers, said “There is no friend as loyal as books”.

I love books and want to share this book review with you. It’s a book called, “The Red Pencil”.

First, a little about the author

The Red Pencil is written by Andrea Davis Pinkney, a New York Times- bestselling author.

Born on September 25^th 1963 in Washington DC, she was inspired by her father who used to attend many civil movements. The bird in the box, The Red pencil, Martin and Mahalia are some of her famous books. In 1996 she received the American Library Association Award, in 1994 she received Children’s Book Council Awad – to name some of the awards received by her.

About the book

It is a story that is written in verse (poem form). It depicts the life of the largest tribal group in Darfur (a region in western Sudan, Africa ).

Darfur means ‘Land of Fur’, witnessed many fights between nomadic Arabs and Fur farmers over animal grazing land. These people were also uprooted from their places and were forced to move to refugee camps to neighbouring countries, Sudan and Chad. Kalma camp, which was located in South Darfur, was one of the largest refugee camps. The people who lived in this camp had little hope of returning to their homes. The Janjaweed were the military groups that operated in Sudan and Chad.

It is a great story about hope and change

The characters

Amira: She is a 12-year-old girl who plays the lead role in the story. She narrates the whole story in verse (poem form).

Muma: She is the mother of Amira.

Dando: The father of Amira. He is the most beloved to Amira.

Leila: The naughty sister of Amira, who always asks questions to her mom.

Nali:  A sheep of Amira.

There are many more interesting characters thought the book. I won’t tell you more, since you should read it.