美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Children Of Blood And Bone' Tackles Heavy Themes In A Magical World

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There's a new book out called "Children Of Blood And Bone." It's a big, heavy book that tackles big, heavy themes - police killings¹ of unarmed black men, the politics of black hair, even death. It's also a young adult fantasy book with magic and gods. NPR's Mallory Yu introduces us to the author.

MALLORY YU, BYLINE²: "Children Of Blood And Bone" is Tomi Adeyemi's first book.

TOMI ADEYEMI: It's actually very surreal that I just walked to my bookshelf and grabbed my book and I was like, this is my book. Like, wow. So that was actually a crazy experience.

YU: This whole experience has been crazy for the 23-year-old Harvard grad. She already has a major book deal and has been praised as the next J.K. Rowling. But the world Adeyemi has created is very different from Hogwarts. It's called Orisha, and it's based on her Nigerian roots. She weaves in African gods and goddesses, the language of the Yoruba people and lush descriptions of jungles and grand cities. Adeyemi wanted Orisha to feel real and tangible³.

ADEYEMI: Because this book, while it is an epic⁴ high fantasy, is about living in a society that teaches you to hate what makes you magical.

YU: A cruel and oppressive king rules Orisha, and he hates maji, people who once had the ability to wield⁵ magic before it disappeared. So maji live as second-class citizens, often beaten or killed by the king soldiers for small offenses⁶. Zelie, one of the main protagonists⁷, is one of them. And at the beginning of the book when she finds an opportunity to restore magic to her people, she jumps at the chance, helped by her brother and the king's daughter. Zelie is defiant⁸ and strong, but sometimes her fear and self-doubt get the better of her. Tomi Adeyemi says to write about this fear she drew on her experience of being black in America in a time of high-profile police shootings of unarmed black men. One passage describing Zelie's panic was essentially⁹ a diary entry she wrote after the killings of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling¹⁰.

ADEYEMI: (Reading) I am always afraid. It's a truth I locked away years ago, a fact I fought hard to overcome. But when it hits, I'm paralyzed. I can't breathe. I can't talk. All at once, I crumple¹¹ to the ground, clasping my palm over my mouth to stifle¹² the sobs¹³. It doesn't matter how strong I get, how much power my magic wields¹⁴. They will always hate me in this world. I will always be afraid.

YU: Zelie's afraid because she's been the subject of ridicule¹⁵ and - much worse - because of her hair. It's snow white and a marker of her ability to wield magic. Adeyemi says that mirrors her own experience as a black woman with natural hair. It took her a long time to accept it, and she wants to show the kids who read her book that their hair is OK, too, so Zelie's hair changes throughout the book.

ADEYEMI: Her hair gets curlier and curlier and becomes this afro as she embraces her magic more and more and more because that is what it is. It's, like, literally¹⁶ magical.

YU: And Adeyemi was adamant¹⁷ that her hair be an afro for her author picture.

ADEYEMI: Because I know there's a lot of black girls who are going to pick this up and be like, whoa, that's how my hair grows, and it looks awesome¹⁸. Because I never had that and you think, like, is my fro (ph) OK if you never see someone rocking a fro.

YU: But the book isn't a lecture in disguise. At its heart it's a rollicking adventure. Characters ride giant fantasy creatures, they battle, and along the way Zelie discovers her power.

ADEYEMI: Zelie has the power to breathe life back into spirits. Also, these spirits literally give her power.

YU: And Adeyemi says she wanted Zelie to have that power because death is something she herself thinks about all the time.

ADEYEMI: Death is something that I am still trying to figure out a healthy relationship with. So I feel like this story for me, too, is therapy of being like, yes, one day you are going to lose the people you love, but you are not going to lose their love. You are not going to lose the power from their love.

YU: Ultimately, Tomi Adeyemi says her book is a celebration of her culture and, most importantly, her people.

ADEYEMI: Children of color need a mirror to see themselves in. And then people who don't have that experience, they need a window. They need a really personalized way to see what people who are different from them are going through.

YU: She also says children of color need heroes, so she'll continue to write them in the books to come. Mallory Yu, NPR News.

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。

4 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

5 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

6 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

7 protagonists   

n.（戏剧的）主角( protagonist的名词复数 )；（故事的）主人公；现实事件（尤指冲突和争端的）主要参与者；领导者

参考例句：

• Mrs Pankhurst was one of the chief protagonists of women's rights. 潘克赫斯特太太是女权的主要倡导者之一。 来自辞典例句
• This reflects that Feng Menglong heartily sympathized with these protagonists. 这反映出冯梦龙由衷地同情书中的这些主要人物。 来自互联网

8 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 sterling   

adj.英币的(纯粹的，货真价实的)；n.英国货币(英镑)

参考例句：

• Could you tell me the current rate for sterling, please?能否请您告诉我现行英国货币的兑换率？
• Sterling has recently been strong,which will help to abate inflationary pressures.英国货币最近非常坚挺，这有助于减轻通胀压力。

11 crumple   

v.把...弄皱，满是皱痕，压碎，崩溃

参考例句：

• Take care not to crumple your dress by packing it carelessly.当心不要因收放粗心压纵你的衣服。
• The wall was likely to crumple up at any time.墙随时可能坍掉。

12 stifle   

vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止

参考例句：

• She tried hard to stifle her laughter.她强忍住笑。
• It was an uninteresting conversation and I had to stifle a yawn.那是一次枯燥无味的交谈，我不得不强忍住自己的呵欠。

13 sobs   

啜泣（声），呜咽（声）( sob的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She was struggling to suppress her sobs. 她拼命不让自己哭出来。
• She burst into a convulsive sobs. 她突然抽泣起来。

14 wields   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的第三人称单数 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• She wields enormous power within the party. 她操纵着党内大权。
• He remains chairman, but wields little power at the company. 他还是主席，但在公司没有什么实权了。

15 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

16 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

17 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

18 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.