The Heaven Shop
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| The Heaven Shop | |
| Author | Deborah Ellis |
|---|---|
| Country | Canada |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Fitzhenry and Whiteside |
| Publication date | 2004 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-55041-908-0 |
The Heaven Shop is a novel by Canadian author Deborah Ellis about HIV/AIDS orphans. Set in Blantyre, Malawi, the novel was written to dispel myths about HIV/AIDS and celebrate the courage of child sufferers.[1] It was published by Fitzhenry and Whiteside in 2004.
Royalties from The Heaven Shop were donated to UNICEF.[2]
Contents |
[edit] Plot summary
Binti is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Blantyre, the largest city in Malawi. She has a sister, Junie, and a brother, Kwasi, while her father Bambo owns Heaven Shop Coffins. Binti plays an important role in a popular radio program called "Gogo's Family"[citation needed]. One day, on her way home, she sees Mr. Tsaka has opened a rival coffin business; she is afraid that Mr. Tsaka will take away some of her father's customers.
Bambo becomes ill and dies of AIDS. Relatives came to Blantyre for the funeral, claiming the house and the rest of Bambo's property for themselves. The siblings are split up, Kwasi going to their Uncle Mloza and the girls being sent with their Uncle Wysom to Lilongwe, where Uncle Wysom and Aunt Agnes use the girls as servants. Junie runs away, leaving Binti a note saying that she is going to earn some money and Binti should try to get to their grandmother. Binti steals some money from her uncle and leaves for Mulanje to find her grandmother, or Gogo.
At the bus station, the drivers and ticket sellers call out "Blantyre, Muzuzu, Zomba!" Binti asks, "Mulanje? I want to go to Mulanje!" Then a driver says, "You want to go to Mulanje? Come on my bus." Three hours later, gone are the crowds of Lilongwe and she is in Mulanje. Binti is taken to her Gogo's house by a friend of her grandmother's, where she meets her "cousins," both biological cousins and other children that her grandmother cares for. The oldest is Memory, a girl Binti's age with HIV and a baby daughter.
Jeremiah finds Junie working as a prostitute and Kwasi in jail, and eventually gets the three siblings reunited. Shortly thereafter Gogo dies, but Junie, Memory, Binti, and Kwasi manage to restart heaven shop coffins in Mulanje and carry on.
[edit] Characters
- Binti, the main character.
- Junie, Binti's sister. She is very bossy at the beginning of the book.She is the eldest child.
- Kwasi, Binti and Junie's brother. He wants to be an artist and loves drawing and painting birds.
- Bambo, Binti, Junie, and Kwasi's father. He owns Heaven Shop Coffins.
- Mr. Tsaka, Bambo's business rival in selling coffins. He drives Bambo to the public hospital when Bambo contracts pneumonia.
- Uncle Mloza, Bambo's brother. He takes Kwasi to Monkey Bay when Bambo dies of AIDS.
- Uncle Wysom, Bambo's brother. He takes Junie and Binti to Lilongwe when Bambo dies.
- Aunt Agnes, Wysom's wife. She treats Binti and Junie like slaves.
- Mary, Wysom and Agnes' daughter.
- Gogo, Bambo, Wysom, and Mloza's mother.(Binti, Junie and Kwasi grandmother.)
- Jeremiah, Gogo's friend, a peer counselor who tells people about AIDS.
- Memory, Binti, Junie, and Kwasi's cousin.
- Beauty, Memory's daughter.
''
[edit] ==Awards and nominations
- 2004 – Foreword Magazine Book of the Year Award – finalist[3]
- 2005 – Children's Africana Book Awards (CABA) – named as an "Honor Book for Older Readers"
- 2005 – Jane Addams Children's Book Award in the category of "Honor Books for Older Children" – winner
- 2005 – Canadian Children's Book Centre – "Our Choice"
- 2005 – Golden Oak Award – shortlisted
- 2005 – Ruth & Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award for Young Adult/Middle Reader Books – finalist[4]
- 2006 – Alberta Children's Choice Book Award – shortlisted
- 2006 – Hampshire Book Award – shortlisted
- 2006 – Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards – named as an "Honour Book"<ref ==''
[edit] Footnotes
[edit] External links
- Podcast featuring Deborah Ellis discussing the book.
