Review: Growing up turns out to be a hard task. Ask any teenager (of whom I know many), and I am sure that they will agree that their lives are filled with drama of the highest order. Friends turn on friends, potential suitors are taken up and discarded in awkward moments, and occasionally one is confronted with emotional trauma related to some horribly embarrassing moment. If there was no angst, the music industry would be broke and Stephanie Meyers would be writing about something other than hormonally charged young vampires. For Robyn Scott, the author of Twenty Chickens and a Saddle, growing up in Selebei, Botswana is infinitely more difficult.

The oldest of three children, Robyn “Robbie” is raised in dubious circumstances relatively close to the border of both Zimbabwe and South Africa. Moved to Botswana at the ripe old age of seven, Robbie and her family leave their life in New Zealand behind to take a chance (unnecessarily) at a new life. Already in Botswana are her grandparents, one of which is famous for his work as an airman and as a fearless inspector of vicious wildlife. His devilish attitude delights his grandchildren and promotes in them an unhealthy disregard for all things potentially dangerous.

The family is as dysfunctional as it is endearing. Robbie’s father takes on the role of doctor and flies from village to village regularly to make check-ups and administer aid. He also sets up shop as a local doctor taking patients several times a week. His main competition is another local doctor and various medicine men. Surprisingly, the competition is fierce. The promise of Western medicine does not entice the expected devotional patients as one might expect. Mom takes on the role of teacher. Her three students are her three children, and they work on different areas of education: remodeling, exploring, and playing. These lessons become intertwined with unimportant aspects of schooling such as mathematics and grammar, but the kids benefit from their “student-centered” learning. Their ability to problem solve, think independently, and speak their mind creates opportunities for them later on down the road.

But living in southern Africa is no picnic. Her dad becomes embroiled in the AIDs epidemic, working to fight against superstition and the government. When they move further south they become exposed to the racial divide in South Africa as well as the conflict in Zimbabwe. It is the families ability to navigate the treacherous waters and the unflappable nature of each member which drives the story onward and roots the reader in their bizarre and amazing lives.

Recommendation: Frankly, this book is awesome. At one point in my life, I heard a Miss Washington speak to a group of students that life is not about the destination but about the journey. This book is a testament to that very idea. This autobiographical look at a family built upon the principles of independent thought is filled with harrowing stories of danger, hilarious stories about hilarity, and heart wrenching tales of people fighting for survival in an environment at once inhospitable and convivial.

Robbie’s narration of the life of her family reflects the love that she has for her parents, grandparents, and siblings. It would be easy to think that she would be frustrated by the free-wheeling nature of her upbringing, but she instead finds the strongest and weakest parts and tempers them so that the reader believes that this unlikely journey might just be the way to go.

This is the kind of book that almost urges you to take risks and follow your ideas and ideals. A life of perfection may not quite be the life worth living. Robyn Scott’s book is an endearing portrait of why that might just be the way to go!

Scott, Robyn. Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: A Memoir of Africa, Penguin Books, London, 2008.

Currently Reading: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville

In the Hole: The Better of McSweeney’s, Volume One, edited by the people at McSweeney’s