Flying Through Water

by Mamle Wolo

A boy’s gripping journey from poverty to empowerment transports readers to modern-day Ghana, into the throes of an extraordinary survival story.
 
Sena treasures his life in rural Ghana—playing soccer, working on the family farm, striving to do his best at school—but he is increasingly aware of his family's precarious security in the face of poverty. When an alluring gentleman comes to town to befriend local teenagers, offering promises of a better future, it only takes one more unsettling turn of events to send Sena into the clutches of human traffickers. Sena's ordeal, escape, and remarkable survival makes for a page-turning adventure of self-discovery and empowerment.

Genres: Africa, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Ghana, Fiction, Young Adult, Historical Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Published May 14, 2024

Reviews

[DaNae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parts of this book were devastating. The mid-portion follows a young boy, Sena, into the child trafficking labor of the fishing industry on the Volta Lake in Ghana. The final part of the book softened the harsh realism. I would have liked a more concrete ending.

Summer mini24 - 8) WRESTLING: A heavy read

[Glenna Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading the story of Sena and his relationship with his grandfather. Sena's grandfather taught him many things about living with the natural world , and Sena was able to use that knowledge to survive after he escaped from forced labor as a fisher boy on Lake Akosomba in Ghana. Sena experienced many changes in his short life, from moving to live with his grandfather, to his grandfather's death, to Sena's decision to go away and make money for his mother and siblings. I really enjoyed the first two parts of the book. I enjoyed the part after Sena's escape less and was not really satisfied with the ending. However, I think this is an important book that tells part of the story of the world's largest manmade lake and the people whose lives have been altered by its creation.

[Nina Chachu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting that this YA book - which I read because I know the author, and wanted to read her second novel - is about the after effects of the creation of the Volta Lake in Ghana. I have just also finished reading A Dam for Africa: Akosombo Stories from Ghana which highlights different aspects of the building of the Akosombo Dam, and its aftermath.

[Leonie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I truly loved this book it was so good and very interesting we follow a young boy called Sena who’s family is from Ghana and located in Accra as someone who’s parents is from the place and Accra where it being based is where I spent time there!

I gave it four stars it’s been a good read and can’t wait to read more of Mamle and explore more middle grades in Ghana

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This honestly felt like two separate novels. The first half about generational poverty and the desperation to get out. Child labor trafficking and all the horrors that come with. Then an island survival Tarzan story.

[Andrew Eder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not AT ALL what I expected, but still pretty good! The beginning was less interesting as I didn’t care so much for the grandfathers stories. I just wanted to get to the action and drama.

The drama was BIG. Hard concepts and tough to process trafficked children. I almost wish there was more stuff from that? I know it’s not realistic but there was zero closure and redemption which left me sad.

Then there’s wilderness survival?? Quite the turn of event but it was still pretty good.

Overall it was good and I’d recommend it. It took a handful of directions and it was inconsistent with the theme at times, but that’s okay I guess.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Sena has a fairly stable life in Ghana. He lives with his mother, sister, and brother, and well as his grandfather, who loves to tell stories. He goes to school, and is stressing about his exams, especially when his grandfather's health worsens. Sena's friend, Bright, has despaired of school and decides to take a job fishing some miles away. Sena, missing his grandfather and concerned that his continued education will cause hardship for his family, decides to run away and join his friend. When he gets to Volta Lake where the boys will work, he is dismayed to find abysmal living conditions, very poor food, and an abusive environment. Being in the water and fixing boats leaves his skin open to wounds and infections, and he sometimes halluncinates and thinks he sees the spirit Mami Wata. When a tragedy occurs, Sena gathers his resolve and swims away from the overseers. He manages to make himself a small shelter and gather food for himself, which is a better life than he had fishing. He would like to get back home, and when he sees men from the Ghana Wildlife manatee protection unit, they help him. He finds out that the men who hired him and Bright to fish were human traffickers, and that what he thought was Mami Wata was actually a manatee.

Like this author's The Kaya Girl, this is an interesting look at life in Ghana, and when Sena is living on his own, reminded me a bit of George's My Side of the Mountain.

[Me Christine Crawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful middle grade/young adult book that is set in Ghana and follows the hopes, dreams and challenges of Sena and his family. The book is split into three parts, each one a powerful account of various situations.
We begin with Sena and his grandad, who recalls his childhood in vivid reflections. He grew up in the area that was flooded in 1965 to make way for the Akosombo Dam and has since created the world’s largest man-made dam by surface area, Lake Volta. However, in this book we learn about the repercussions on the people and wildlife still felt today.
Part two follows Sena as he finds himself trafficked into becoming a fisher boy on Lake Volta. The harsh conditions faced by Sena, were based on extensive research by Wolo herself.
I’m part three of the book Sena faces yet more challenges and learns about living in harmony with nature.
This is a story that will stay with you (as does Kaya Girl, also by Mamle Wolo) the characters have great depth and there are many layers to the Sena’s tale. Whilst this is fiction, you will learn a lot about the geography and history of Ghana set around the River Volta. Engaging from page one and highly recommended.

[Eze Goodluck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an important story to tell—an important story to read. Thank you, Narrative Landscape Press, for this copy.
It follows Sena, a young Ghanaian who grows up in poverty. His choices are limited, and he ends up taking a job he should never have accepted. I have been made aware of the effects the construction of dams like the Akosombo Dam has caused for the local communities. The effects on the humans living there and the effects on the wildlife, like the lovely manatees and the mona monkeys I met in this story.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this so much. Read Ghanaian fiction. Read African Fiction.

[Kristy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three sections of this felt like three different stories. The first half is about Sena growing up with his family until a little after the death of his grandfather. Part two is about his time working as a fisher boy after he was trafficked. Part three is him living on an island and just not trying to get home for some reason. I was unsatisfied by the ending.

CW: spousal abuse, cheating, child abuse (including at school), death of a grandparent, death of a child, illness, slavery, human trafficking

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy.

[Meepspeeps · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an improbable tale interjected with social commentary. Sena, the main character and young teen, learns to do many things extremely well in a short time of practice. He also has surprisingly keen insights into the political power structure of his country, Ghana. It’s a good story of relationships and the horror of child trafficking.

[Susan Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The audio narrator is terrific! Living and educating in the U.S. I always want to bring authors from other countries into the classroom.
Human trafficking occurs right here in my home state, and this story can be a catalyst for such conversations.
Wonder World Book Cafe Podcast:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young adult novel of a boy in Ghana who is lured to take a job far from home to help his poor family. When the job turns out to be indentured servitude with a violent uncaring boss, the boy decides to escape.

[Susan McGilvray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid MG entry about human trafficking in Ghana

[Natalie Haggard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable. I couldn’t put it down once I got into the story.

[Mary-Esther Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The three parts of the story have such different emotional arcs, it affects the overall feeling.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking story of the consequences of forced labor for youth, and the end was hopeful with a little feel of Island of the Blue Dolphins.

[Megan Kelly Hubbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow starter but whoa, once it going, you couldn’t put it down.

[Ruth Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid YA novel, pulling back the curtain of a Ghanaian teenager and his coming of age journey. Beautiful prose and interesting study of a family.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good but it was slow and it was confusing on who is specking but it is good and it was not what I was thinking

[Uche Ezeudu · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Rita Van Der Puije · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read! I would have LOVED this as a preteen; history, underwater towns, generational wisdom, and wilderness survival all in one beautiful book.

[Jaynhi Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so good. Loved this❤️

[Clarissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a beautifully written and gripping tale set in Ghana. Sena's family is poor, but not as poor as some families they know. He and his sisters work hard on the family farm, and at school, hoping for a better future. Unfortunately the death of his grandfather makes it more difficult for the children to divide their time between school and the farm. Poverty causes Sena to fall into the hands of human traffickers. The reality of Sena's life is harsh, but the writing is so lovely, and the the depiction of Sena's family especially his grandfather, combined with wonderful descriptions of nature and the compelling journey he is on make this book hard to put down. Sena's grandfather is wise and kind, and yet believably human, and Sena is a character who struggles to overcome hardships, and yet never loses his humanity. I hope that there will be a sequel so that we can follow Sena's life as he continues to grow into a strong person with kindness and grace. I was sorry when it ended, and wished it had gone on for another hundred pages. I read an Advance copy at NetGalley.