Walking the Bowl: A True Story of Murder and Survival on the Streets of Lusaka

A New York Times Notable Book

An NPR Book of the Year

When the dead body of a ten-year-old boy is discovered under a heap of garbage in Lusaka’s largest landfill, a murder investigation quickly heats up. The lives of four unforgettable children become more closely intertwined as they navigate the violent and poverty-stricken underworld of Lusaka and engage in a desperate bid for survival against forces they could never have imagined.

Gripping and fast-paced, Walking the Bowl exposes the perilous aspects of street life through the eyes of the children who survive, endure and dream there, and what emerges is an ultimately hopeful story about human kindness and how one small good deed, passed on to others, can make a difference in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.