I was very impressed with Naomi Benaron’s debut novel Running the Rift, and let everybody know about it in this review of the book for the Dallas Morning News. Here’s the beginning:

Running the Rift

Naomi Benaron

(Algonquin Books, $24.95)

A young Rwandan’s dream of running the 800 in the Olympics collides with his country’s inescapable turmoil in Naomi Benaron’s gripping first novel Running the Rift, which won the Bellwether Prize for fiction addressing “social justice.”

Some people might want to turn away after reading this set-up, which makes it sound like a novel that’s more good for you than it is enjoyable. But that isn’t the case. Benaron casts the coming-of-age story of the runner Jean Patrick Nkuba against the build-up to the Rwandan genocide, but through her protagonist’s resilient and determined spirit, she infuses the story with buoyancy and hope. Rich characterization and insights about Rwandan culture make this book a pleasure to read, and Jean Patrick impossible not to root for.

Click through for the rest:

http://www.dallasnews.com/entertainment/books/20120120-book-review-running-the-rift-by-naomi-benaron.ece