''The Garbage King'' is a 2003 children's fiction book written by Elizabeth Laird and illustrated by Yosef Kebede. Laird was inspired to write the book after living and working in

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, where, in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

, she saw children who lived on the streets who had inspiring abilities to cope with difficult living conditions. It has received numerous British book awards.

Plot summary

It tells the story of Mamo and Dani. Mamo is from a very poor family where everyone has died except for him and his sister, Tiggist. Mamo goes with a man who claims to be his Uncle Merga but is in fact probably one of his deceased mother's lovers. Before Mamo can realize it, "Merga" takes Mamo far from the city and anything he's ever known and sells him to a farmer as a slave. Dani comes from a rich and privileged family in Addis Ababa. His father, however, wants him to send him away to

Jigjiga Jijiga (, , ''Jijiga'') is the capital city of Somali Region, Ethiopia. It became the capital of the Somali Region in 1995 after it was moved from Gode. Located in the Fafan Zone with 75 km (37 mi) west of the border with Somali ...

to make him learn something useful and toughen up. Dani's mother is sick and flew to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, to receive better medical care. Dani runs away to escape his father. At the same time, Mamo escapes from the farmer after attempting suicide caused by physical abuse and hitch-hikes back together join a gang of beggar street boys. The members of this gang are using nicknames because they do not know their actual names, or have forgotten them. Their nicknames are Million (The ''Joviro'' or gangmaster), Shoes, Getachew, Buffalo and Karate. Karate has a bad sickness that usually makes him go into coughing fits. Later on in the book, Karate passes away from his sickness.

Awards

''The Garbage King'' won the

Scottish Arts Council The Scottish Arts Council (), was a Scottish public body responsible for the funding, development and promotion of the arts in Scotland. The Council primarily distributed funding from the Scottish Government as well as National Lottery funds ...

Children's Book of the Year Award and the Stockport Schools Book Award. It was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal (2003), a

Blue Peter Book Award The Blue Peter Book Awards were a set of literary awards for children's books conferred by the BBC television programme ''Blue Peter''. They were inaugurated in 2000 for books published in 1999 and 2000. The awards were managed by reading charity ...

(2004), the Salford Children's Book Award, the Calderdale Children's Book Award, the Lincolnshire Young People's Book Award, the Stockton Children's Book of the Year, the West Sussex Children's Book Award, the Portsmouth Book Award, and the Sheffield Children's Book Award.

References

External links

The Garbage King at Elizabeth Laird's website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garbage King 2003 British novels Novels set in Ethiopia Children's books set in Ethiopia British children's novels 2003 children's books