Now Is the Time for Running

Imagine witnessing the brutal beatings and murders of your family and village. All you have left is your brother, although older than you he has the mind of a child. With a homemade soccer ball, and his brother's special box, Deo and Innocent head to South Africa in search of peace and the possibility of finding the father they never knew. The trek from Zimbabwe to South Africa is tough including crossing a hazardous river and a dash through a dangerous animal preserve . These scenes are two of the best I have ever read before. Without spoiling, I do want to say Innocent's stash of goodies in his box is brilliant.

This is a difficult yet must-read book encompassing topics such as political cruelty, refugee abuse, drug addiction and a young boy devoted to his mentally disabled brother. Deo is a character that we care deeply about. It is quite violent at times. When given the chance to play soccer and compete in a tournament to get his life on the right track you will be cheering Deo on as I did. A stunning piece of historical fiction. Recommended for those who enjoyed A LONG WALK TO WATER by Linda Sue Park and Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai which are written for younger readers but in a similar vein and fans of historical fiction and adventure. Read as an ebook arc courtesy of Hatchette Book Group via Netgalley.

I wasn't sure about this book at first. It doesn't fall into the normal genre's I read. But I've found that sometimes reading outside my box is a good thing, and this was one of those times. Now is the Time for Running tells the story of Deo and Innocent. Two brothers in Southern Africa who are stuck in the middle of turbulent and tragic times for the countries located there.

While Deo is younger than Innocent, he is the one responsible for the two, since his older brother has learning disabilities. It was tragic to watch Deo struggle to save his brother from the world. Both from the violent people in it and the violent events that took Deo and Innocents family.

Williams does and amazing job with both his characters and the world they are in. I've never been to Africa, but it was easy for me to visualize the different settings from the authors words. I also really found myself wanting everything to work out for Deo and Innocent. The struggles they go through to survive and to stay together are crazy. The sad part is that things like this are happening to children all over Africa right now. So throughout the story I turned each page hoping that they would find somewhere to be safe, but knowing that if they were real and not in a book the likelihood of safety would be next to nothing.

I don't want to give away too much about this book. You really need to read it for yourself. It was moving and heartbreaking. At the same time the ending really left some hope that maybe there is some better chance out there in the world. Definitely pick this one up and make sure you give yourself time to really read it. It's one of those books that makes you look at things a little differently.

This is a wonderful book, that I couldn't put down. Poor Deo goes through so much and I stayed up late into the night hoping he got a happy ending. But what he did get was so much better, hope.

Like AimeeKay, this book is not from my normal reading genre. A fellow teacher loaned it to me after she checked it out from our school library, and I'm glad for the recommendation.

I nearly put it down after the first couple of chapters--the violence that Deo and his brother Innocent endure is hard to stomach, and the writer paints some very powerful scenes. I stuck with it, mainly because I have great respect for a writer who can move a reader so strongly! The characters of Deo and his handicapped (but savant) brother are fully brought to life.

A short summary--Deo and his brother are refugees from violence in Zimbabwe, and manage to make it eventually to South Africa, in hopes of finding their father. Deo has a homemade soccer ball, his "billion dollar ball" that he stuffs with the inflated currency of Zimbabwe. South Africa ends up being a terrible destination in many ways, but eventually provides Deo a lifeline, through the Homeless World Cup of soccer.

If you read this book, stick with it all the way through, it is not a long read, and it is very much worth finishing! Kudos to Michael Williams for bringing attention to the many issues portrayed in this novel.