The Weaver's Scar: For Our Rwanda

About this book

VOYA Magazines Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers Skipping Stones Honor Award The Weavers Scar is a profoundly moving gripping horrifyingly beautiful story of one boys escape from the atrocities of the Rwandan genocide. It is the first young adult novel written in English for an American audience dealing directly with the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis by the Hutus an event that resulted in the slaughter of nearly a million people. The novel is stunning in its eloquence heartrending in its poignancy and exquisite in its revelations both of the characters personal lives and of the history of a nation torn apart by ethnic divisions. Faustin is a normal schoolboy who excels at running and soccer. But dark secrets of the past hang over his family and his father disapproves of his friends and his soccer games. Things only start to make sense when the teachers at school begin to emphasize the division between the Tutsis and the Hutusa division that even makes its way to the soccer field. As the terrible events of the genocide unfold Faustin experiences first-hand the horror of neighbor against neighbor. With his family slain his only chance of survival lies in his running and his sheer courage to outwit the enemy. He does not have to do it alone however; he discovers the value and courage of an unlikely friend. Their journey to safety unfolds in a compelling narrative that ends with both heartbreak and later inspiration.