Here are a couple more books that I would recommend. One is fiction; one is non-fiction.

Listening for Lions is a beautifully written book by Gloria Whelan. It's about 13-year-old Rachel Sheridan who loses both of her missionary parents in the East African influenza epidemic of 1919. She is taken in by the Pritchards, a greedy British couple who send her to England in place of their daughter, Valerie, who also died in the epidemic. Their plan is for Rachel to smooth things over with Valerie's dying grandfather so they will inherit his fortune. Posing as Valerie, Rachel tells the grandfather stories of her life in Africa and the two develop a strong bond. Although he doesn't let on, the grandfather is not fooled and the Pritchard's plan fails. Rachel is adopted by Valerie's grandfather, but she never forgets her promise to return to East Africa. Her dream is to reopen her parents' hospital in Tumaini, which closed after their deaths. A determined and courageous heroine, Rachel finds a surprising way to make her dream come true.

In the story, Whelan describes the lives of the Kikuyu people, the landscape and the wildlife of East Kenya. Rachel treasures her view of the distant, snow-capped Mount Kenya and is an avid birdwatcher. I recognized some of the birds we saw on our Earthwatch expedition-- including the hoopoe pictured on the book's cover!

Facing the Lion is a biography in which the author, now a teacher in Virginia, tells his story of growing up as a Maasai in Kenya. When the Kenyan government required nomadic families to send one of their children to school, one of Joseph Lemasolai Lekuton's older brothers was sent, but only lasted a day before running away. Joseph volunteered to go in his place, although he was only 6 years old and too young to go to school. As he tells his story, he paints a vivid picture of the nomadic lifestyle of the Maasai people-- which is very similar to that of the closely-related Samburu people around Wamba. After high school, Joseph continued his education in the United States and today holds a place in two totally different worlds-- as a teacher here in the US, and a member of his tribe in Kenya. An inspiring story of bravery and determination.