Even When Your Voice Shakes

by Ruby Yayra Goka

Overview

A young woman speaks out against her wealthy abuser in this riveting YA novel from one of Ghana’s most celebrated children’s book authors.

When Amerley is offered a job working for one of her mother’s old school friends, she knows she has to accept. Her wages will feed her family, help her sisters stay in school, and ensure that her mother won’t have to worry about them. Amerley’s move to Accra isn’t easy, but she soon settles into her new life away from her small village—until she is raped by the son of her employer. Torn between keeping quiet to keep her job and speaking up for herself and for justice, Amerley must decide how to live her truth, and the impact of her choice will be felt through her entire community.

Through the life of an ordinary girl from a small country village, Even When Your Voice Shakes exposes the damage wrought by institutionalized misogyny and poverty and reveals how even those who are most disadvantaged are never without their own power.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781324017110
Publisher:	Norton Young Readers
Publication date:	02/15/2022
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	424,843
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Ruby Yayra Goka is a dentist and a writer from Ghana. Six of her young adult books have won awards in the Burt Award Competition for African Literature in Ghana. She lives in Accra.

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/01/2022

Gr 9 Up—Growing up in Ghana, Naa Amerley fights an uphill battle to provide for her family. They are days away from being evicted from their one-room house when distant relative Rosina Idrissu arrives to hire Amerley as her maid. While reluctant to leave home, Amerley can't ignore the potential of the money to transform their lives and fulfill her dream of becoming a seamstress. The shocking excess of the Idrissu family's lifestyle initially unmoors Amerley, but she settles in and begins saving for her own sewing machine. Then, her dreams of a better future are violently derailed when the son of her employer rapes her. Confronted by the accusation that "no one will believe you—you're just the maid," Amerley grapples with her fear of speaking out. Readers will be drawn in by Amerley's struggle to survive extreme poverty and an exploitative world of wealth. The Ghanaian setting is well-conveyed through description and metaphor, such as when Amerley reflects on her "words bubbling up, on the verge of spilling over, like when you'd boil cassava for fufu and the steam would lift the lid off." Her clear, compelling voice drives the well-paced narrative, whose main weakness is an overly neat ending. A glossary of Ga terms is included. VERDICT With a strong, resourceful protagonist, a richly observed setting, and powerful messages about gender and class inequity, this novel belongs on all shelves.—Elizabeth Giles

School Library Journal

2021-12-24
A teen in Accra takes a job in a wealthy household and finds the courage to speak up after she is sexually assaulted in this contemporary novel by a noted Ghanaian author.

Sixteen-year-old Amerley has dropped out of school and assumed the role of caretaker for her younger sisters due to her fisherman father’s absence and mother’s refusal to face their dire situation. The family is on the verge of eviction, and Amerley’s sewing skills bring in some income, although her dream of becoming an apprentice seamstress is out of reach financially. Her best friend, Sheba, and boyfriend, Nikoi, are also struggling, although Nikoi offers her family a temporary reprieve on rent with funds he had saved toward her apprenticeship. Then Rosina, her mother’s wealthy friend, offers to give Amerley a domestic position in her household, pay her sisters’ school fees, and support Amerley’s apprenticeship in two years’ time. Despite Amerley’s reluctance to leave home, her mother is insistent. Rosina’s gated luxurious dwelling is unlike anything Amerley has ever experienced, but the opulence masks serious family issues—and she is raped by a member of the family. Against overwhelming pressure to keep silent, Amerley testifies in court, becoming a beacon of hope for countless others who have endured rape and abuse. Amerley is a strong, well-drawn character surrounded by a complex supporting cast. The narrative is rich in cultural detail and universal in its themes of resilience and integrity.

A powerful story that will engage readers. (glossary) (Fiction. 13-18)

Kirkus Reviews