A wonderfully warm and exotic memoir of three children growing up in Botswana. The parents get top marks for challenging the boundaries of what is acceptable in conventional society and allowing their kids to find their own way.

It also illuminates the devastation that is the AIDS epidemic. By the mid 1990’s, Botswana had one of the highest rates of HIV infections in the world where one quarter of Botswana’s adults were HIV-positive.

Wise, intoxicating and poignant. It reminded me very much of one of my favourite books by Gerald Durrell – My Family And Other Animals.

I picked up this book with a desire to learn more about Botswana - having read all of Alexander McCall Smith's Mma Romotswe books sets in that country. In the end I learned a little more, but not much. But it was an enjoyable read about her eccentric family, homeschooling, HIV in Africa, etc. ( )

This is the memoir of Robyn Scott who grew up in rural Botswana in the 80’s and 90’s. Her up bringing was unconventional due to her parents who were firm believers in natural living and home schooling. Her father is a flying doctor to remote Botswana communities and her mother schools them in their family home.

With her siblings Lulu and Damien the children’s unconventional schooling has them learning what was relevant. Robyn at the roughly the age of twelve started her own free range egg business that rescued old battery hens and was highly successful. Lulu was fluent in latin and could name any tree or animal in its latin name, and Damien was adept at machinery.

Robyn’s style of writing flows easily and is light hearted. She has a very descriptive but not heavy way of bringing the Botswana country side and its inhabitants to life. This book does not deal with any real dramatic issues but does touch on the AIDS epidemic from her father’s perspective which in it’s self is interesting.

A good read but if you are looking for a memoir that deals with meatier issues go elsewhere; this is a story about family. ( )

I am unashamedly biaised towards any book set in Southern Africa after living in Zimbabwe. This book bought back the sweet smell of red dust, the sight of crazy upside down tree (baobabs) and a longing for endless blue skies of Africa. Filled with a cast of eccentric characters it was a fun read. ( )

I wasn't too impressed with this adult memoir about growing up in Botswana. Scott's family always was a little strange--her dad practiced homeopathic medicine, her mother homeschooled the children, and her grandpa was kinda crazy. At the age of 7, her parents moved back to Botswana, and the children lived there for the rest of their childhood. The father flew around as a private doctor in the bush and their mother taught them. Scott encounters rascism, Apartheid, HIV and AIDS and all sorts of things in Africa. All in all, nothing really stood out about this memoir, but it's an easy read. ( )