If you have been or are in Mr. Hawley’s ELA class, or just like reading, you may be familiar with the book The Bitter Side of Sweet. According to the synopsis,

“Fifteen-year-old Amadou counts the things that matter. And for two long years, what’s mattered most to him and his little brother, Seydou, are cacao pods. The more they can chop down and collect in a day, the better their chances of staying alive, and maybe, just maybe, earning enough to buy their freedom to return home. When the boys left their family in Mali to find work, they never imagined they’d end up as forced labor on a cacao plantation in the Ivory Coast, but that’s exactly what happened. And with each passing day, their resolve to keep going, to keep counting, grows even weaker. That is until Khadija arrives. The first girl they’ve seen at camp…”

This is a very deep and emotional fictional story. I personally enjoyed how it gave enough detail for you to see what was happening in the story, though didn’t give so much detail to a point where the story wasn’t moving anywhere. Overall, I’d give this book a 9/10. This is a very emotional and detailed fictional story that I recommend if you’re into books about the struggles of children around the world.