The Bitter Side of Sweet by Tara Sullivan

The Bitter Side of Sweet was the last book from my school's book fair that I read while home for the holidays in Florida. I picked it up based on the summary on the back, which showed it was about modern day slavery in Africa. Later on, I realized that one of my students had been reading it too and showed it to me once, so it's been getting a bit of traction among my kids. It ended up being excellent, so I'm glad I chose it!

The story follows two Malawian children, Amadou and his younger brother, Seydou. Both were unwittingly sold into slavery in the Ivory Coast when they left their drought-stricken home to look for work to support their family. They were sold to a cacao plantation and spend their days harvesting cacao pods for the farmers. They are beaten regularly, work under extremely dangerous conditions, and given barely enough food and water to stay alive. The brothers have been working on the farm for two miserable years when the story begins. After an early, failed escape attempt. both are broken and resigned to their fate. The best Amadou can do each day is try to protect Seydou and keep him alive.

Their story changes, however, when a young girl named Khadija is brought to the farm to work. She has the spirit of a wildcat, and constantly tries to escape the farm. She is continually caught and beaten, but she refuses to give in. Before long, she befriends Amadou and begins to make him think about trying to escape again. When Seydou is grievously injured one afternoon, he decides that the time is right to take his brother and attempt an escape once more. With Khadija there to help, the three embark on a terrifying and dangerous journey to freedom.

This novel was amazingly compelling. The writing was smooth and the action was well-paced. I was completely engaged in Amadou's journey and raced through the pages to see how everything turned out. What made the reading experience even more powerful was the fact that the story is based on the truth of what happens on cacao farms in Africa. I had no idea that child slave labor was regularly used to make chocolate. The author, Tara Sullivan, includes some information in the back of the book about this issue and it was equal parts disturbing and educational to read about. The fact that child slaves are used to produce a sweet for more privileged children across the world is awful to contemplate. It made me think a lot harder about all that Christmas candy I got over the holidays. Buying those fancy chocolate bars labeled "fair trade chocolate" is something I will try to do from now on.

This was my favorite book out of the three I read during my trip. It was well-written and alerted me to an issue that I didn't know anything about. This is definitely a high-interest book that I will place in my classroom library and recommend to my kiddos.


Challenge Tally
Clear the Shelves 2018: 21 books donated

Total Books Read in 2018: 44