What do You think about Chanda's Secrets (2004)?
From School Library Journal[return]Grade 8 Up?Chanda, 16, remembers the good times, when she lived with both parents on a cattle post in sub-Saharan Africa and even later on when her family moved to Bonang. Her family's troubles began after her father was killed in the diamond mines. Her first stepfather abused her; the second died of a stroke; the third is a drunken philanderer. Although Chanda lives in a world in which illness and death have become commonplace, it is not one in which AIDS can be mentioned. The horror and desperation of families facing this disease is brought home when her latest stepfather's sister dumps the dying man in front of their shantytown house. Before Chanda can get help from the hospital caseworker, he disappears and the wagon that brought him is burned. Her mother leaves to visit her family on the cattle post and Chanda is forced to give up her dream of further education to care for her younger sister and brother. Slowly she comes to realize that her mother has AIDS, and that she might be infected herself. But Chanda's education serves her well as she faces the disease head-on. In a sad but satisfying ending, she rescues her mother so that she can die at home and she and her siblings get themselves tested. Smart and determined, Chanda is a character whom readers come to care for and believe in, in spite of her almost impossible situation. The details of sub-Saharan African life are convincing and smoothly woven into this moving story of poverty and courage, but the real insight for readers will be the appalling treatment of the AIDS victims. Strong language and frank description are appropriate to the subject matter.?Kathleen Isaacs, Edmund Burke School, Washington, DC[return]Copyright ? Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
—Ken
Hi,I'm Allan Stratton, the author of CHANDA'S SECRETS. I love meeting readers and would be happy to answer any questions you might have. Just write me c/o this site, or, if you want to see all the foreign edition covers, at my website www.allanstratton.com Also the movie trailer!It was made into the movie LIFE, ABOVE ALL (a very close adaptation) that premiered at Cannes, spring 2010, and opens in North America through Sony Pictures Classics, July 2011. CHANDA'S SECRETS is about a young woman who realizes very early on that there is something seriously wrong with her mother. But she's afraid to face what that might mean, since she loves her mama more than anything and can't bear losing her and having to raise her siblings alone. Chanda also has a best friend, Esther, who lost her parents to AIDS, and who has turned to prostitution to earn the money to win back her brothers and sisters who've been scattered around the countryside after their parent's death.CHANDA'S SECRETS is more than about AIDS, though. At heart, it's about the secrets we all have, about our fears of shame and stigma and losing the love and respect of the people we love. It's about the pain of bereavement. And above all, the courage of living with truth.I love Chanda and her family very much. I hope you will too.
—Allan Stratton
This book is about a girl, Chanda, who is forced to face the many trials of Africa. She sees the horror of death all around her. The cause of many of these deaths are AIDS. This book delves deep into the ugly truths of Africa that many people don't know about. Her family is extremely poor and they live in a very poor neighborhood. The closest phone is a ways away in one of their richer friends house. This book is extremely sad and very graphic. The author doesn't hold back any part of the details. I personally don't like unhappy books like this one but I do like to have knowledge of things going on in the world. It was well written and was a very unusual read. Because of that I would have to give it three stars out of five stars.
—Wilson Stoddard
