The Good Braider was selected as the Bank Street College of Education
Best Book of the Year and a Book of Outstanding Merit.
In spare free verse laced with unforgettable images, Viola's strikingly
original voice sings out the story of her family's journey from war-torn
Sudan, to Cairo, and finally to Portland, Maine. Here, in the sometimes
too close embrace of the local Southern Sudanese Community, she dreams
of South Sudan while she tries to navigate the strange world of
America--a world where a girl can wear a short skirt, get a tattoo, or
even date a boy; a world that puts her into sharp conflict with her
traditional mother who, like Viola, is struggling to braid together the
strands of a displaced life. Terry Farish's haunting novel is not only a
riveting story of escape and survival, but the universal tale of a young
immigrant's struggle to build a life on the cusp of two cultures.
The author of The Good Braider has donated this book to the
Worldreader program.