The Day of Ahmed's Secret

As a future teacher, this book was particularly upsetting to me. Ahmed should just be your average little boy but unfortunately his family as needs. He works tirelessly from sun rise to sun set delivering hundreds of pounds of fuel oil. His routine is so unchanging that e takes the same route each day, eats the same meals, and sees the same people. He does not have time to play, go to school, make friends his own age, or have any sort of life that a young boy should have. He seems to have matured at a very young age and although he is proud of his job and what he does, there is something that he is more proud of. I was almost in tears the first time I read this book and found out what his secret was. He can write his name. That doesn't seem like much but for a child it is huge, not to mention the fact that he is most likely self taught. He is so proud that he can write that it changes his entire day. He goes through the whole day of work and thinks of nothing but revealing this HUGE secret to his family. As readers we must understand why this is so important. He taught himself to write his name despite having no free time to learn except the occasional short lunch break. To me this is amazing, touching, and upsetting. All children deserve the chance to BE children and to see one struggling just to support his family and not having any fun or any kind of formal education really breaks my heart. I can only hope that situations like this will become a thing of the past in the very near future.