Crazy Boy the Hero

By Steve Townsend

Crazy Boy the Hero by Steve Townsend, is the first in a series of books about a young boy's adventures set in the lakeside town of Kibuye in Rwanda, Africa. Agasazi (the Crazy Boy) is asked by his mother to fetch some water. On his way he gets distracted by his friends, eventually leading him to be a hero. Sketch illustrations throughout the book help show the readers not only events in the story but also some of the scenery of Kibuye. A map at the beginning of the book helps the reader to relate to Agasazi's movements throughout the story.

Crazy Boy the Hero is written for 6-10 years olds, in a narrative style, but from a child’s perspective. The book shows that the everyday life of a child of that age is magic enough for great stories. Although the main character of the story, Agasazi, is identified as the craziest boy in the world, his personality is very typical of all children his age and therefore is easy for children to identify with. Whilst the boy himself does not actually exist, his desire for fun, friendship, play and adventure does exist in every child.

A short educational section is included after the story explaining where the water we drink comes from. Because the book is set in another continent it cannot help but touch on issues and cultural differences that require some explanation to the reader (e.g. children fetching water; the use of domestic help in households; life without electricity; joys and dangers of swimming; etc.) and therefore the book has education content that naturally springs from the story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Publishdrive
• Release date: Feb 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781482781694

Book preview

Fiction

Dedication

For Wilson and David

My Crazy Boys

Map of Kibuye Town

Who is Agasazi?

Agasazi was the craziest boy in the whole world! He knew that because his parents were always telling him.

His real name was John, but he had done so many crazy things that his parents and most people who knew him call him Agasazi, which means, Crazy Child.

He did not really know why he was the craziest boy in the whole world.

He loved his friends and the adventures they had together, but always seemed to do something to make an adult angry.

Agasazi was a boy who lived in a small town called Kibuye, which is in a country called Rwanda.

He was 8 years old, but he did not know that. In his country they did not celebrate birthdays, so he could not tell anyone how old he was, even if anyone was interested enough to ask him.

You see, Agasazi was a child, just like you, with ordinary parents, in an ordinary house, in an ordinary town.

At least he thought everything was ordinary, because he didn’t know any different really.

But he was always trying to find out something new and interesting. Always looking for adventure and fun. So were his friends.

His family were not rich, but they were not poor either. His parents could afford to buy shoes for him.

Many of his friends did not have shoes, so that is how he knew his family were not very poor.

This is a picture of a street near his house. The houses are built with bricks made from mud and have corrugated iron roofs.