Why a Booktrail?
2000s: There’s not many YA novels that introduce you to a particular time and place in world politics this well.
The Glass Collector
What you need to know before your trail
Fifteen-year-old Aaron lives amongst the rubbish piles in the slums of Cairo. He collects broken glass – the glass collector of the title.
He is a young Christian and a member of the Zabaleen cast. The Zabaleen collect rubbish, are outcasts of society as they live in the very poorest of communities. But their communities are strong in strength like no other.
But Aaron wants more and he is driven to search for his future
Travel Guide
It’s normal in Cairo- the city of magic and ancient mysteries- for rich and poor to stand side by side, to share the same doorways and buildings, the same streets, without ever really seeing each other.
“Nothing can satisfy our minds like the kinds of journeys we are capable of when we use our imaginations. Only then can we discover the truth.
The Zabbaleen people in Cairo, Egypt collect the rubbish are a fascinating subject to have in a novel and they provide a service that WE had no idea even existed. How can’t recycling companies in well developed countries take this amount of care and attention?
Since these people are also Coptic Christians in a predominantly Muslim country, there are many obstacles to them being accepted or even acknowledged. Add to that the period of the Egyptian uprising which overthrew Hosni Mubarak, then this is a novel which speaks volumes.
Aimed at a YA audience this has themes important to any reader – poor v rich, the chance to succeed and progress in life and the fate of any of us.
Where Next?
