The Garbage King

by Elizabeth Laird

Book Overview

This novel of unusual power for older boys and girls tells the gripping and dramatic story of homeless street children forced to do whatever they have to do in order to stay alive in the brutal slums... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0330415026
• Release Date: January 2004
• Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.9" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Great book!

This book had many memorable scenes and showed such a variety of complex characters and situations; I never expected the ending. I couldn't put the book down and neither could my husband.

I have met Mamo

I recently returned from a six month stay in Ethiopia. During my time there, I made friends with a man who, I later learned, is the basis for much of the character Mamo. His story is very compelling, and Ms. Laird did a fantastic job of re-creating it in a way that portrayed many of the emotions and events in precisely the way they were described to me by Belete. I did not read the book until my return to the States, and spent the entire time lost in my memories of Addis Ababa. Ms. Laird does a wonderful job of describing life on the streets and life in Ethiopia from the eyes of those who are there. This portrayal is _very_ accurate and the writing is very accessible to readers of many levels. I highly recommend this book!

The Garbage King

The Carnegie Award winner, The Garbage King, by Elizabeth Laird, takes place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Elizabeth Laird has visited Ethiopia many times and has taken Ethiopia's real life experiences and made it into this novel. The Garbage King first starts with a boy named Mamo who gets tricked into slave labor. Mamo soon gets free and meets another boy named Dani in a cemetery, who had run away from his abusive father. Together, both boys eventually join a gang and live on the streets with other boys. In order to join the gang, the characters had to give up everything. I think that The Garbage King is an interesting, adventurous and realistic fictional novel. It shows that the Ethiopian people in the area of Addis Ababa are not that wealthy. The author takes the life of the Addis Ababa street children and describes it as a sad depressing way of living. Since the book depicts real life, there are many children who live alone. I recommend this book to people who like real life adventures and problems. If you like to learn about other places in the world, you'd be a happy reader reading this. When I started reading The Garbage King, it seemed like a boring book. After reading several chapters, our book club group had our discussion. It was the best discussion because it made me understand the book from a different viewpoint. If you enjoy books with strong characters and emotions, you'll love this book.

The Garbage King

Online Book Review Elizabeth Laird, a famous fiction writer, was born in New Zealand 1943. Elizabeth Laird has written many books about issues that are happening today. The issues include slave labour, war, fighting and kidnapping. Her favourite country, Ethiopia, has lot's of issues and even today people are dying and starving. Her books have been shortlisted 3 times for the Carnegie Medal. This book takes place in Addis Ababba of Ethiopia. The story is mainly focused on a 13 year old boy that is escaping death and slave labour. The boy's name is Mamo and he is befriended by another boy, Dani. Dani is running away from his painful life of dealing with his angry father. The two meet and they don't part until they return home. Mamo and Dani both meet other people and decide to join their group. I think this book is really good and fast-paced, I wasn't able to put it down. This book was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, which to most people is an honor. I would rate this book an 8 out of 10. The fluency of this book is very, very smooth and flowing. The events in this book move quickly so that the reader won't get bored reading too many details. Elizabeth Laird really knows how to write with strategic skills and her ideas flow smoothly. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading or to kids who who have ever considered running away. Elizabeth Laird really knows how to keep people reading.

About "The Garbage King"

Elizabeth Laird's favorite country is Ethiopia. The setting and people inspired her Carnegie Medal winning book The Garbage King. In the beginning of this book a boy named Mamo runs away from slave labor and a boy name Dani runs from his tyrannical father. They meet and join a street gang. Their life in the gang was hard: they had to beg together, scavenge for food together and survive as one. They both find themsleves confused and are unsure where to go. This book was really action packed in the beginning. The author really likes to jam pack her chapters with lots of interesting action. Although towards the end of the book it got a little confusing and boring. Also there wasn't a lot of action near the end and I kind of lost interest in the book. I like the authors style of writing because she takes her knowledge and puts it into a story. It was great how she got a message across about street children and poverty in Ethiopia through an awesome story. Its a great way to tell people about problems and issues. And if you like realistic fiction this is definitely a good book to read because its got a lot of accurate information. I recommend this to everyone because of its action and intensely fast pace. I couldn't imagine people not liking this book.