Take one part vivid description of Africa's high veldt:
". . . the acrid tang of acacia and loping giraffes; warm mist rising from lonely sand rivers; the smoke of cattle-dung fires; the sharp stench of lion; and the sweetness of sighing grasses . . . the drug that draws all travelers back to Africa . . ."Combine with images of the mountains:
"The cloud base hanging on the mountain had risen so that the long saddle between Mawenzi and Kibo was in view . . . this vast colossus thrusting up from the plains of Africa to pierce the sky three miles above his head . . ."
Sprinkle lavishly with the tribal history of the Mau Maus, the Leopard Cult and the realization that "Kenya had tired of slavery; had tired of the white man being in control; had wanted its independence."
Blend in slowly a white family, Mr. Edwards, his wife and son Alan who recently returned from school in England. Watch cautiously as you stir together Alan and the native, Kimathi, who have been friends since their birth at the same time.
Spice with the omen addressed to Kimathi by the Old Man of the tribe. Fill in with rich characterizations of Mjomjo, caretaker for the Edwards and the gruff yet frightened police officer, Makayowe: "The man inside the uniform was an African, and that loyalty pulled the other way. His roots were still in African soil . . . what would he do when his two loyalties pulled with equal strength?"
Take the adventure of "The Year of the Leopard Song" in big gulps, not forgetting to savor the native drums and the messages they send across the tribes. It is guaranteed that your heart will be thudding the same rhythm!
Perhaps it was the quotation Campbell used from Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" in the preface that set the tone: Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710-feet high and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summit is called, by the Maasai, Nqaje Nqai - the House of God. Close to the western summit is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one had explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude."
This certainly frames "The Year of the Leopard Song" and captures the sights, sounds and smells of Africa.
The jacket illustration and design by Paul Morin and Lisa Peters are an added bonus showing blood stains of a 6-fingered hand, the word CHUI (meaning leopard), close to the animal's jugular.
"The Year of the Leopard Song" is a feast that will be particularly appealing as you contemplate tribal customs and death on Mount Kilimanjaro.
Eric Campbell has spent most of his life in Papua, New Guinea, and East Africa where he claims to have lived in the shadows of Kilimanjaro. Campbell's first novel, "The Place of Lions," was named an American Bookseller's "Pick of the List" and is also a vivid portrayal of Africa.
Marilou Sorensen is an associate professor of education at the University of Utah specializing in children's literature.