We Need New Names

Darling is a ten-year-old growing up in Paradise, a Zimbabwean shantytown thrown together after government bulldozers leveled her family's home. She runs with a pack of friends, stealing guavas from a rich suburb and inventing games against a backdrop of political violence, AIDS, and a country sliding toward collapse. Halfway through her childhood, Darling is sent to live with an aunt in Michigan, where the dream of America turns out to be cold, lonely, and full of its own quiet humiliations. Bulawayo splits the book between the vivid chaos of home and the muted ache of exile, narrating both in Darling's unforgettable voice.