Almost ten years have passed since the Rawandan genocide, and teenage Emma has blocked out most of what happened when her mother was killed by the Hutus. She was five then, and an older Hutu woman risked her life to shelter the Tutsi girl. Their loving and supportive relationship has helped Emma survive from day to day, but she hasn’t come to terms with the terrible violence of the past. Set in 2004, when the gacaca courts were beginning in Rawanda, Êlisabeth Combres’s novel addresses its grave subject matter with sensitivity. Ndoli, a boy who lives in Emma’s village, is another traumatized survivor who encourages her to get help from a therapist, a survivor who helps Emma face the past so that she can embrace the future. While there are a few questions about characters’ ages and the passage of time in this spare, eloquent story, it speaks to a difficult and painful past and the hope that comes with the hard work of healing. An author’s note provides background information on the Rawandan genocide and the gacaca courts. (Age 13 and older)

Emma was a five-year-old Tutsi girl whose mother was murdered by Hu tus in Rwanda’s 1994 genocide. She fled to another village, where an old Hutu woman took her in. Now nearly a decade later, Emma is still haunted by those nightmares when she must make a decision about returning to her home village to testify in the gacaca court against her mother’s killers. With the help of others who faced similar situations, she finds the courage to speak out. An epilogue describes the fictional present-day twenty-four-year-old’s life as a teacher living in her parents’ restored house. An author’s note adds further historical context. 2010 USBBY Outstanding International Books List, 2010 CCBC Choices, 2010 IRA Notable Books for a Global Society. bal

Originally published as La Mémoire Trouée in French by Gallimard Jeunesse France, in 2007. Translated by Shelley Tanaka.