Now is the Time for Running

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This one comes highly recommended by Bookbag. It's easy to read but tremendously affecting. And it talks about important issues - Zimbabwe matters, but Now is the Time for Running has something to say about how we treat refugees taken in by this country, too. Deo lives in Gutu, Zimbabwe. He spends his spare time playing soccer with a ball his grandfather made for him.

Now Is the Time for Running Summary and Analysis Now Is the Time for Running Summary and Analysis

Summary: In a dusty field in the province of Mosvingo in Zimbabwe, Deo plays soccer with his friends will his older brother Innocent watches. Then the soldiers show up and Deo and Innocent's world is turned upside down. They are now on the run, refugees from their own village, and must find a way to survive. As Deo works to protect his mentally challenged older brother while still making hard decisions, there are struggles at every turn. And during this time in Africa, refugees are not accepted with open arms. As Deo and Innocent find themselves in Johannesberg, South Africa, they find that the place that they thought would save them is the toughest place they've been yet. At the beginning of the story, Deo, a fourteen-year-old Zimbabwean boy, has not seen much of the world. He plays soccer with his friends. He keeps an eye on his very special older brother Innocent, a sweet but damaged young man who suffered a brain injury at birth. Innocent is one of the most irresistible characters I’ve ever come across. Deo is understandably dedicated to him. The relationship between the brothers is the jewel at the center of this plot.Deo is tough. He cares for his older brother with the patience and love of a mother, he has grown up in poverty pursuing his dream using a rolled up pile of garbage as a soccorball. He is not a stranger to living life the hard way. But when his hard but peaceful life is shattered in minutes and all he is left with is his older brother is he tough enough? A long harrowing journey brings him to a place to pursue his dream but first he must heal and learn what it is to be a member of a team, a member of the world. The profound things that these boys went through shaped them into strong and successful people. This novel is a perfect portrayal of things that are happening in first world countries, and really opened my eyes. Deo was left alone with his disabled brother, and had to conceal his own pain and trauma to protect him. This shows what a mature person Deo is, and how living a petrifying life can really impact someone. They are led astray by one of their fellow farmworkers and left penniless and lost. No job, no money, no food. Deo ends up living on the streets. He becomes one of the glue-sniffing street kids in South Africa. Deo is playing soccer in a drug-induced fog one day but a scout recognizes his talent and skill. The scout approaches Deo and tells him about a soccer team made up of kids from the streets of Cape Town, Johannesburg, and other cities in South Africa. The kids are taken off the street, given a place to live and food to eat. They are also trained as members of soccer teams which will compete for the World Cup of street soccer. This opportunity proves to be life changing for Deo. He is able to regain his strength and sense of purpose. It is no proper soccer ball. It is a pouch of cow-leather patches sewn together with twine, stuffed with tightly rolled plastic.

Now is the Time for Running by Michael Williams | Waterstones

In a remote village in Zimbabwe, Deo is playing football with his friends while his brother Innocent looks on. Innocent takes a bit of looking after - deprived of oxygen during birth, he's not quite like other children and Deo is fiercely protective of him. Then the soldiers arrive, looking for a delivery of food aid and the traitors who welcome help from the evil Americans, and they destroy the entire village. Now orphans, the two boys have no choice but to flee to South Africa in the hopes of finding their long-lost father. Since their only possessions are Innocent's bix box and Deo's football (stuffed with worthless billion dollar notes), it won't be easy... Fifteen-year-old Deo lives with his amai (mother), grandfather (Grandpa Longdrop), and older brother, Innocent. Innocent is 25, but he is ‘different’. His impairment is never specified, but it hardly matters. Deo looks out for his big brother. After some grim moments, the boys were left with no food or money, and Deo ended up on the streets. He was then recognized for his talent at a soccer game by a scout, and is provided with information to join a team of homeless kids who are given food and shelter, and train to compete in a large soccer tournament. This gave Deo hope, and eventually changed his entire life for the better.

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Like the companion book Diamond Boy, this story doesn’t make a superhuman hero of a teenaged boy, but tells his story in real terms. Deo can’t do it all himself. His only real skill is playing soccer and his only sense of purpose, his devotion to his brother. Holding trauma and despair under his surface so he can survive and take care of Innocent, he needs help from adults who care. The whole thing is extremely powerful and it wrings every possible emotion out of its readers. The football is as exhilarating to read about as it is for Deo to play. Innocent's "innocent" conversation is often laugh-out-loud funny. Some of the scenes in Zimbabwe involving the soldiers are horrifying. Sometimes, tears come at the sheer sadness of it all and at the courage of two little boys. And sometimes, the weight of the awfulness sits like a stone in your heart. But the book is truthful, not hopeless. It ends on an up note and with the positive message that we're all brothers and sisters, no matter where we come from. Quite right, too. Based on true events that occurred in 2008 this gripping novel will keep you awake till you finish it. This was another 2 hour book that I couldn't put down. Definitely one of the best books I read in 2011. Armistice Day: A Collection of Remembrance - Spark Interest and Educate Children about Historical Moments To find out what happens to Deo, read the gut-wrenching and violent, yet heart-warming and inspirational book Now Is the Time For Running by Michael Williams.