Now is the Time for Running by Michael Willams: Review by AimeeKay

Just down the road from their families, Deo and his friends play soccer in the dusty fields of Zimbabwe, cheered on by Deo's older brother, Innocent. It is a day like any other . . . until the soldiers arrive and Deo and Innocent are forced to run for their lives, fleeing the wreckage of their village for the distant promise of safe haven. Along the way, they face the prejudice and poverty that await refugees everywhere, and must rely on the kindness of people they meet to make it through. But when tragedy strikes, Deo's love of soccer is all he has left. Can he use that gift to find hope once more?

Relevant, timely, and accessibly written, Now Is the Time For Running is a staggering story of survival that follows Deo and his mentally handicapped older brother on a transformative journey that will stick with readers long after the last page.

I wasn't sure about this book at first. It doesn't fall into the normal genre's I read. But I've found that sometimes reading outside my box is a good thing, and this was one of those times. Now is the Time for Running tells the story of Deo and Innocent. Two brothers in Southern Africa who are stuck in the middle of turbulent and tragic times for the countries located there.

While Deo is younger than Innocent, he is the one responsible for the two, since his older brother has learning disabilities. It was tragic to watch Deo struggle to save his brother from the world. Both from the violent people in it and the violent events that took Deo and Innocents family.

Williams does and amazing job with both his characters and the world they are in. I've never been to Africa, but it was easy for me to visualize the different settings from the authors words. I also really found myself wanting everything to work out for Deo and Innocent. The struggles they go through to survive and to stay together are crazy. The sad part is that things like this are happening to children all over Africa right now. So throughout the story I turned each page hoping that they would find somewhere to be safe, but knowing that if they were real and not in a book the likelihood of safety would be next to nothing.

I don't want to give away too much about this book. You really need to read it for yourself. It was moving and heartbreaking. At the same time the ending really left some hope that maybe there is some better chance out there in the world. Definitely pick this one up and make sure you give yourself time to really read it. It's one of those books that makes you look at things a little differently.

Til Next Time

AimeeKay