Too Small Tola Makes It Count

Gr 2-4–The latest in this series returns to Lagos, Nigeria, in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Tola’s family is reunited and living contentedly in their apartment block, working and playing much as they had before the lockdown. In the first of three stories, Tola negotiates a better living arrangement for her neighbor, Mrs. Shaky-Shaky, who can no longer safely climb stairs. In the second, Grandmommy takes Tola on a trip to the beach. And in the third, after a near-disaster while babysitting, Tola’s reputation is enhanced by the lyrics in a popular song about her. Atinuke’s voice has a traditional storyteller’s inflection and lexicon with characters and setting of distinctly modern urban Africa, where some citizens are very wealthy and others are destitute. She doesn’t flinch in her descriptions of the “run-down” apartment block where Tola’s family lives, the grueling trip to a filthy beach, or the hard work that is everyone’s responsibility. In this matter-of-fact treatment of the characters and setting, inequity is not much to complain about; everyone has a role to play in lifting others up, holding down the fort, and appreciating life as it is. Tola plays her part well. Though the book is marketed as a chapter book, the text complexity makes it also appropriate for upper elementary readers.