Half of a Yellow Sun

Half of a Yellow Sun

• Genre: Fiction; historical
• Originally Published: 2006
• Reading Level/Interest: Grades 9-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 37 chapters; approx. 543 pages; approx. 18 hours on audio
• Protagonist and Central Conflict: Multiple viewpoints from five main characters reveal each one’s connection to the Biafran rebels during the 1960s Nigerian Civil War and resulting conflicts and consequences.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Wartime violence and death, including that of civilians by massacre and starvation; rape; adultery; forced military service

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Author

• Bio: Born in 1977 in Enugu, Nigeria; lost family members and possessions during the Nigerian Civil War; attended the University of Nigeria before arriving in the US to study at Drexel University in Philadelphia and the Eastern Connecticut State University; later attended Johns Hopkins University for creative writing; awarded 16 honorary degrees from prestigious colleges and universities and earned the Macarthur Fellowship “Genius grant” honor (2008); inspired and influenced by Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe; has given several TEDx talks on cultural understating, feminism, and the influence of background and history on individuals
• Other Works: Purple Hibiscus (2003); Americanah (2013); We Should All Be Feminists (2014)
• Awards: O. Henry Prize (2003); Hurston/Wright Legacy Award (2004); Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (2005); Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for Fiction (2007); Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007); “Best of the Best” Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction (2015)