Tropical Fish: Tales from Entebbe (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780767925105)

In her fiction debut, Doreen Baingana follows a Ugandan girl as she navigates the uncertain terrain of adolescence. Set mostly in pastoral Entebbe with stops in the cities Kampala and Los Angeles, Tropical Fish depicts the reality of life for Christine Mugisha and her family after Idi Amin's dictatorship.

Three of the eight chapters are told from the point of view of Christine's two older sisters, Patti, a born-again Christian who finds herself starving at her boarding school, and Rosa, a free spirit who tries to "magically" seduce one of her teachers. But the star of Tropical Fish is Christine, whom we accompany from her first wobbly steps in high heels, to her encounters with the first-world conveniences and alienation of America, to her return home to Uganda.

As the Mugishas cope with Uganda's collapsing infrastructure, they also contend with the universal themes of family cohesion, sex and relationships, disease, betrayal, and spirituality. Anyone dipping into Baingana's incandescent, widely acclaimed novel will enjoy their immersion in the world of this talented newcomer.

*Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Book in the Africa region
*Winner of the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Award Series in Short Fiction
*Winner of the Washington Writing Prize for Short Fiction
*Finalist for the Caine Prize in African Writing

Author: Doreen Baingana
ISBN-10: 0767925106
ISBN-13: 9780767925105
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Language: English
Published: 09/12/2006
Pages: 208
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.50d

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 05/01/2006 pg. 31
Kirkus Reviews 06/01/2006 pg. 531
Library Journal 07/01/2006 pg. 61
Black Issues Book Review 01/01/2007 pg. 43