| The Garbage King | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) | Elizabeth Laird |
| Country | Great Britain, United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Children novel |
| Publication date | 2003 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| ISBN | 9780764156793 |
The Garbage King is a fiction book for older children, written by Elizabeth Laird. Laird was inspired to write the book after living and working in Ethiopia, where she admired the children who lived on the streets of Addis Ababa for their ability to cope with the difficult conditions.
The Garbage King tells the story of two different boys, Mamo and Dani. Mamo is from a very poor family his mother has just died and now there is just his only older sister, Tiggist and himself. If they can’t get a job soon they will end up in the streets. One day when Tiggist is out looking for a job, Mamo is taken by a man claiming to be his Uncle Merga, who turns out that he is a slave trader and he takes Mamo far away from the city and sells him to a cruel farmer. Lost in despair Mamo cannot see a way out. Mamo gets beaten up and treated very badly.
Tiggist becomes an assistant in Mrs Faridah's shop and a nursemaid to her daughter Yasmin. Mrs Faridah becomes jealous of her, so when a local lad shows an interest in her and promises to marry her once he has established himself with an electronics shop she accepts enthusiastically. Meanwhile, in a prosperous part of Addis Abbaba, there is Dani from a rich and privileged back round. He is in serious trouble with his father because he forces him to study to get good grades. So his father wants him to go to an army man to be toughened.
His mother is very sick she gets moved to England, London where she gets good medical care. He couldn’t stand the vision of being at home alone with his horrible father, so he packs some valuable clothes into a backpack and runs away. At the same time Mamo is strong enough and at least he manages to escape from his master and hitches back to Addis. The two boys are out in the streets now, alone. Dani hides in a graveyard that his father cannot find him if he recognizes that he had left home. Somehow Mamo got into that graveyard too. Mamo and Dani form an unexpected alliance while each sleeps in the streets. Together they join a gang of streetboys, begging but not stealing. They each offer different talents to the group, which has a strict code of sharing whatever they get hold of: Mamo becomes the garbage king, he is an expert at finding treasures on rubbish heaps; Dani writes stories which the others sell for a few coins. Each becomes more and more accustomed to this way of life. One day Mamo is out in the streets with some stories of Dani, he tries hard to sell them. He passes a school right on time when all the young children were about to leave school to go home. As some teachers passed him he tries to sell the story, at least one of them bought it. It was the older teacher of Dani, Ato Mesfin, he recognizes his handwriting and went to the Father of Dani, Ato Paulos. They talked for a while; Danis father is surprised and speechless. Obviously they have a clue now where Dani might be. Ato Mesfin knows the street children quite well and also some gangs.
After speaking with some of the homeless people in the street, they knew their pitch. Soon Ato Paulos and Ato Mesfin find him, sitting on the fire with his gang mates. His Dad is out of his mind he cant believe what he sees. His son,completely thin, packed in dirty clothes, a street child. He cant comprehend that his son left home for living a life like this, begging for food and water everyday, coping for survival. He is brainstorming of all the things he has done to him. Has he really been such an awful father to him? Obviously he has.
Anyway at the end Ato Mesfin took the leadership, he knows how to get Dani back home. At first there was no way for him to go back to his cruel father. After speaking for a while Dani changes his mind as he heard that his mother is doing fine and she will get home soon. He leaves his gang and their pitch, and went off with his Father. Mamo was disappointed, he had a certain relationship to Dani, he kind of was his only attachment figure. He is sitting there on the fire very angry and sad, he didn’t speak for a while then he walked off from the other boys. He wants to find his sister. He went back to the shop where she used to work, but there was no Tiggist anymore. A boy selling fruit in the front of the store told him she lives with her husband and that they are married now. At least Mamo finds his elder sister,the new shop and her husband. She was really happy to have her little brother back. He gets new clean clothes, food, and a warm bed. It was the first time that Mamo got the feeling back, of being protected, of having a regular home and a proper work. He feels very confident and happy. The two boys didn’t lose their contact, they meet each other every now and then. They get food and new clothes for their old gang mates when they can.
The novel has won numerous awards, including the Scottish Arts Council Children's Book of the Year Award and the Stockport Schools Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal, the Blue Peter Book Awards, 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.