Nakai and the Red Shoes
by
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Row after row filled with wares, foreign and domestic, exotic and everyday. From needles to jewelry to fashions to foods, all designed to dazzle the eyes and appetites of locals and tourists as well. Nakai’s stall was a wooden bench. “Nut bread here,” her voice hardly audible above the crowd noise, “nut bread.” “Little girl,” came a voice that startled her. “Yes sir.” Her voice was dream like. “How many would you like?” “How much are your loaves?” the man asked. “500 cedis, sir.” “Give me one loaf,” said the man, “but I only have four hundred.” “It’s alright, sir.” Nakai wrapped the man’s loaf in brown paper. “Here’s your loaf, sir.” She noticed the man seemed quite old and he was slightly bent. His wrinkled hand trembled as he reached for the bread. She thanked the man and turned immediately toward Bongo. “Did I do the right thing, Bongo?” “Aaagh, aaagh.” Bongo approved. Nakai turned around. Her basket of nut bread was gone. The old man, “thief!” she shouted, pointing in the direction of the man running away, “stop that man!”
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About the Book
Nakai is a bright, curious, and ambitious nine-year old girl who lives with her parents in Labadi, a small village in Ghana, West Africa. She has never owned a pair of real shoes beyond the makeshift ones her father crafts for her at the start of the school year. One day, while selling her mother’s nut bread at the market to help support her family, she finds a surprising treasure that inspires a quest: a Sears catalog from the United States. She is absolutely mesmerized by the American fashions—especially a dazzling pair of red shoes. Excited and inspired, she races home to share her discovery. Undaunted by her parents, who sadly admit that they cannot afford to buy the shoes for her, Nakai becomes more determined than ever to solve her problem. She quickly decides to find a way to buy them for herself. With the help of her independent-minded pet goat, Bongo, she embarks on a series of adventures and plans—some more successful than others—to raise the money she needs to buy her very first pair of shoes.
About the Author
William Y. Cooper is an Afrocentric artist whose works are a fusion of his American experience and his African heritage. He studied writing with the Institute of Children’s Literature and the Long Ridge Writers Group. His first middle-school novel, 77 Jackson Street, Rear, is set during the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott. Cooper resides in Buffalo, New York with his wife and two cats. He has three sons and four grandchildren.