Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke

Anna Hibiscus by Atinuke

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book has adorable stories and is a great addition to cultural literature. Clearly, a lot of people love it. And I wish I had loved it a little more.

I was uncomfortable with the depiction of Anna's mother. I think the father respected the mother's desire for occasionally being alone, but I felt that the story line depicted that desire as wrong-headed, not as a cultural difference. As a person who needs to spend time by myself, this was enough to unsettle me about the book.

I was also puzzled by Anna's obsession with snow. It seemed to come out of nowhere. I wish it had been tied more to stories that her mother and her Canadian grandmother had told her. As it was presented, I couldn't quite get why she was even interested in it.

The most powerful story for me was the one about selling oranges. That was worth the time spent for the whole book.

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