This is not an ordinary book: it's a BookCrossing book! BookCrossing books are world travelers - they like to have adventures and make new friends...and every once in a while they even write home to say what they've been doing.

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Picked up at the Punahou Carnival: larger photo here.

Award-winning YA literature from Southern Africa: published in Cape Town and set in Botswana.

Like many teenagers, Emmanuel wants to fit in. Unfortunately it's more difficult for him than most: his albinism sets him apart from the other people in his Botswana village.

The bookstore owner gave him a copy of "the God-grant picture" and Emmanuel struggles with its message: to accept what he cannot change, change what he can, and so on. Early in the book he smashes the picture onto the floor.

I suppose you could call this a coming of age story or perhaps even a spiritual journey as Emmanuel tries to solve his problems and find his place in the world.

Tuesday, June 13, 2017: released on International Albinism Awareness Day against a wall which was (temporarily) mostly unpigmented. Unfortunately I very cleverly managed to erase my release photo. :( [This is the location, a week later.]

There's an article in the June 2017 issue of National Geographic about the challenges faced by those with albinism, and there are a number of websites dedicated to increasing awareness: Under the Same Sun looks like a good one. Read some of the stories - they're heartbreaking - and you'll never think of someone with albinism the same way again.

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I'm so glad you've found this book!

Please take a moment to make a journal entry and let this book's previous readers know that it's safe with you.

How and where did you find the book? What did you think of it? What are you going to do with it next?

It's now your book, for you to do with as you please: keep it, pass it to a friend, or maybe even leave it where someone else can find it!

If you've ever wondered where your books go after they leave your hands, join BookCrossing and you may find out: you'll be able to follow the further adventures of your books as new readers make journal entries - sometimes from surprisingly far-flung locations.

(Think of it like Where's George for books: a little like geocaching or a treasure hunt - you can follow a registered book's journey every time someone makes a new entry. Some BookCrossers even leave books *in* geocaches!)

BookCrossing: making the whole world a library!