Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I Am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis

I Am a Taxi by Deborah Ellis
204 pages

Very good book that dives into the exploitation of children in many countries of the world.


(from jacket cover)
San Sebastian Women's Prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia, is hardly the ideal home for a twelve-year-old boy. But that's where Diego ends up after his parents are falsely accused of smuggling drugs during a trip into town to sell their coca crop. Their sentence? Sixteen years.
Diego has adjusted somewhat to his new life-an odd mix of incarceration and limited freedom. He is smart and determined, and he has learned how to cope. Thought his parents remain locked up, he can go to school and help out by babysitting his sister, and by selling his mother's knitted goods at the local market. He also runs errands as 'taxi' to earn money to help pay for food and the rent on their tiny cell.
And that is his life, week in and week out-working hard, keeping his wits about him, and dreaming of the day when he and his family will be back on their farm.
Yet even that familiar but difficult existence soon comes to an end, and Diego is suddenly forced to consider a plan proposed by his best friend, Mando-a plan to make a lot of money, very quickly.

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