Inspired by true events during the Great Depression, young Kedi, of a Cameroon village, is distressed to learn that Americans are going hungry. Vibrant illustrations reflect Kedi’s innocence and earnestness as she convinces her fellow villagers to help out New York City.

Kedi is a young girl in an African village who hears about the Great Depression from her American teacher. She is greatly upset about the fact that children are going hungry and makes it her mission to raise money to send to the people in New York.

I LOVE this book. When we in America think about the people in Africa, we think first about the starving children. Although children in America have only recently started to go hungry due to the economic collapse, Kedi does not care. She knows what it is like to be hungry and does not think to herself this may just be a temporary thing for people in America. She is empathetic and caring--a simply wonderful human being whom young children can admire and respect. We should instill in our young people the principles of compassion and charity, and this book is an easy tool for teaching these virtues. The colors in the illustrations are colorful and eye-catching, yet not distracting from the theme or written words, either. ( )

When Kedi hears about the Great Depression in America from her teacher, she immediately feels sympathy for him and his people in America. She feels that she must help them in some way because she can't imagine what it must be like to be starving. So Kedi asks her mother for some money to send back to the people in America. Sadly, her mother doesn't have enough money to give away, so Kedi starts asking everyone in the village. When she finishes, not a single person had any money to give. The next morning Kedi's mother stopped her on her way to school and gave her a coin to give to her teacher. Kedi was really nervous to give the teacher a coin because she didn't think it would be enough for everyone until... Everyone from the village, one by one, came to the school to contribute some money to America!

This book is set in Africa during the late 1920s and early 1930s when America was experiencing the Great Depression. I feel like the setting of this story illuminates the characters of the story because a young girl, who lives in poverty along with her neighbors, was trying her hardest to raise money to send to America, which illuminates her compassion along with her neighbors' compassion for donating money to America that they barely had for themselves.

I love this book because of the kindness and compassion that is found in the book. A village of poverty donated money, that they barely had themselves, to people in desperate need. What's even better about this story is that the little girl is who initiated the donation. Most of the time young people are too afraid to stand up for something they believe in because "one person can't make a difference." Well, Kedi definitely made a difference in this book and it's a story that must be told to young children everywhere. ( )

When Kedi's teacher is sad about American going into the Great Depression, she knows her heart wants her to do a good deed and try to help out the American people. Kedi decides to wander around her village and ask everyone if they have any ideas on how they can help America out or any money to donate to the people in "New York, America." This book showed me that Kedi is a well-raised girl with a kind and caring heart who loves to go above and beyond to help people in need. Kedi and her family are not the richest people, however she was still willing to give up her money to help out the other people in need. My point of view on this book is that you can always try to help someone out who is in need. Even if it is not a lot, any little bit is enough. ( )

My Heart Will Not Sit Down tells the story of the generous and compassionate "Bulu" tribe in Africa. After the main character, Kedi learns about the Great Depression happening in America, she asks her village, the Bulu tribe, to donate money to America. It was hard for her to receive donations at first, but once the tribe understood what was happening in America they came together to help the best they could. They ended up donating $3.77 to help fight hunger in New York City. Despite needing the little money they donated, they collectively decided to give what they had in order to help those in need across the "Great Salt River." Most of the story was set in Cameroon, Africa but the backstory is set in New York City in the 1930s. This story is such a heartwarming tale of the poor giving their all to help those in need because they understand their situation. Great book! ( )