We Need New Names

By: NoViolet Bulawayo

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

‘To play the country-game, we have to choose a country. Everybody wants to be the USA and Britain and Canada and Australia and Switzerland and them. Nobody wants to be rags of countries like Congo, like Somalia, like Iraq, like Sudan, like Haiti and not even this one we live in – who wants to be a terrible place of hunger and things falling apart?’

Darling and her friends live in a shanty called Paradise, which of course is no such thing. It isn’t all bad, though. There’s mischief and adventure, games of Find bin Laden, stealing guavas, singing Lady Gaga at the tops of their voices. They dream of the paradises of America, Dubai, Europe, where Madonna and Barack Obama and David Beckham live. For Darling, that dream will come true. But, like the thousands of people all over the world trying to forge new lives far from home, Darling finds this new paradise brings its own set of challenges – for her and also for those she’s left behind.

©2013 NoViolet Bulawayo (P)2013 Random House AudioGo

Critic reviews

"Darling is 10 when we first meet her, and the voice Ms. Bulawayo has fashioned for her is utterly distinctive — by turns unsparing and lyrical, unsentimental and poetic, spiky and meditative... stunning novel... remarkably talented author" ( New York Times)

"Bulawayo’s novel is not just a stunning piece of literary craftsmanship but also a novel that helps elucidate today’s world" ( Daily Telegraph)

"We Need New Names is full of life -- you can almost feel the sun on your arms and hear the birds in the trees -- and Bulawayo is certainly one to watch" ( Stylist)

"original, witty and devastating" ( People Magazine)

Our hunt for guavas!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes. It is an understated child's view of life in a vulnerable situation.

What was one of the most memorable moments of We Need New Names?

Stealing guavas. It reminded me of stealing apples when I was young.

What does Robin Miles bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Intonation and articulation of the language speak. I'm a big fan of language in its many forms, particularly when it gives life to a character as Robin Miles did.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book made me laugh and cry. I grew up in an unsettled Britain, ie; IRA, civil riots. It just reaffirmed my view that I had it great, no doubt, compared to African children being subjected, and still, to violence and abuse. However, the characters are there to hold you up, and make you laugh and smile through their cheekiness. That's children for you.Resilient.

Started nicely but withered towards the end

The story was first exiting but became dull towards the end. Fun to learn about African culture anf mentality.

You had me at Mgodoyi

Happy at times and sad at times but so colorfully written and read. You feel you understand a slice of what it must be like to never see home again, both in the immediate loss of leaving and growing loss of missing it all.

Hard to put down (in an audiobook way)

I loved the story. The author's writing style is incredible and she manages to paint harsh realities in a comical way, yet maintaining their depth.

The narrator was quite good but her 'meant to be Zimbabwean' accent was horrible, and to be frank, rather insulting as it is nowhere near what Zimbabweans sound like. I had to get used to it before I could fully enjoy the book. I wish that a native Zimbabwean had read the book, or that the narrator had at least taken time to study the accent properly, get coaching on pronunciation of the words and how to sing the songs etc.

Nope this is bad

The book is written extremely poorly and is impossible to fathom unless your english is broken in a African broken english kind of way... its so dry it would burn itself just by laying in a rainstorm in the middle or the pacific ocean in the Mariana trench... it’s just plain terrible