We Need New Names

Darling is a 10-year-old girl from Zimbabwe when the narrative begins. She lives in a shantytown called Paradise, though she used to live in a brick house in a proper neighborhood before police bulldozed her neighborhood. Darling is supposed to go and live with her aunt in Detroit, Michigan, and looks forward to the move. Darling and her friends are always hungry because there’s never enough to eat. They go to big cities and steal guavas to satiate their hunger and play games to pass the time. Darling is very observant of her surroundings, and she comments on social ills from the point-of-view of a child but with worldly wisdom. Darling moves to America with her aunt and soon finds that it’s nothing like she thought it would be. The plight of immigrants is sometimes just as daunting as the plight of people in their own country. Darling’s American dream never materializes by the end of the narrative, and she’s left wondering if chasing this dream has been worth it.