Vanuatu: The Foreign Education of Abel

12-year-old Abel invites you to walk a few miles in his flip-flops as he leaves his tribal home for the first time on a cargo ship to go to boarding school. Here, in the jungles of the South Pacific, he has to fight not only for knowledge, but for food, acceptance and friendship. Meanwhile, a proposal for a new business on his island may threaten his clan’s very existence. Thanks to what he’s learning about himself and the world around him, he discovers how to become the leader his community will need.
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Reviews
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“I looked through this book, at every picture, and then I read the narrative from beginning to end and was captivated. I often judge a book on whether it teaches me something, opens a window to another world, uplifts me in some way and if too, it pulls at my heart strings. The story told through the words of young Abel spurred me on. More than once this coming-of-age tale brought tears to my eyes. An excellent read for people of all ages.”
— Pat and Rosemarie Keough, Explorers Club, Canada
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“Twelve-year-old Abel is a hunter and gatherer in the mountains of Vanuatu, on the island of Ambae. He is chosen to continue schooling on faraway Pentecost Island. A bare-bones cargo ship takes him to a "foreign education", in a foreign country and a foreign language.
When he returns home, he is challenged to prove what he has learned in school to promote unity in his village and between tribes on the island. Wonderfully descriptive of life in a different culture and country. A story tenderly, and compassionately told!”
— Jean Whitehouse, Switzerland
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“What an interesting look into Vanuatu family and tribal life! This touching story highlights how different life can be from anything we know. It made me realize that despite different backgrounds we all have one thing in common: we all need love, friends and a place we belong to. Wonderful book for young readers but not only. I thoroughly enjoyed to submerge myself into a different world by reading this valuable book.”
— Brigitte Frey