Art of Storm

Art of Storm is a nonfiction book that talks about the tragedies that a family of twelve undergo in a country called Cameroon located in Central Africa. The book begins with the story of their great-grandfather, Montcheukeum, who was abducted in the village called Baletet at a very young age while he was on a farm with his mother by some White men who came to hunt some young boys and strong healthy men to be sold as slaves. Montcheukeum was arrested and chained by some White man who took him to America and sold him as a slave to the state called Washington. He was bought by a rich White man call Mr. Thomson, where he labored for over thirty years until the abolition of the slave trade. Montcheukeum then decided to return to Cameroon, especially in his village Baletet--which, until now, no one knew how he managed to recognize his village to the point of returning there after over thirty years. Montcheukeum got married and had two sons and one daughter where the second son happened to be the author's grandfather. Montcheukeum died twenty-five years later as a proud man because his dream was to return one day in his motherland and be buried there with his ancestors. The story continued with the big tragedy of the death of the author's mother, which happened to be the beginning of the storm of the family of twelve. The author's mother died from a sudden death, leaving behind a newborn baby of three months with nine other children and a husband. The author's mother was the granddaughter of Montcheukeum, the American-slave grandfather. After the death of their mom, the family faced some difficult moments that pushed the second son of the family to go on an adventure so he can return one day and rescue his siblings from the hardships. After many years of silence, the entire family thought their brother was dead; one day, they received a letter from America, which happened to be the most joyful moment of the author's family. It was a letter that their brother wrote to their father to explain how he risked his life and managed to get to America by boat. Not even a year after that, the brother made the author join him in America. Like any other African who came from a third-world country, the author thought traveling to America was going to be the end of her struggles. Seeing those big buildings in Manhattan reminded the author of her mother's grandfather who labored and contributed to building America. The author's life in America was filled with storms. She faced many challenges as an immigrant, such as cultural shock, language barriers, and bullying. As a native French speaker, it was very difficult for the author to communicate and express herself in school. The author continued by narrating the storms that she faced in high school, especially being bullied by kids from her school. She also talked about the difficulties she went through as an immigrant to become a legal citizen in America and how impossible it was to get a job with a working permit. The author finally became a green-card holder and continued with her studies where she succeeded to become a graduate from one of the universities of New York.