My Friend Matt and Hena the Whore

This moving, often harrowing novel about the coming-of-age of four spirited children in a starving African village is narrated by Kimo, a nine-year-old boy who recounts brutal scenes of civil strife in one breath, while playfully describing the personalities of his bosom pals in another--from ``smart-ass'' Matt to innocent Golam with his ``lovely smile'' and Hena, with her ``twisted mind.'' When life in their village is disrupted by civil war and famine, the children travel to the big city to get help from Kimo's supposedly successful cousin. But the cousin is hiding from the police and nowhere to be found. The stirring part of the book is the way they cleverly extract themselves from dangerous situations as they wend their way through the violence and disorder of the city. Even though the fighting causes them terror and pain, Kimo refuses to stop believing in the goodness of people, saying that ``the hurt of those who stop loving you is worse than the hurt of those who leave you'' and ``the hurt of those who never love you is the worst of all.'' Zameenzad, an award-winning novelist living in England, adds a new dimension to the footage of hungry children we see on television newscasts and makes them come alive in an unforgettable way. (Apr.)