Too Small Tola Gets Tough

Description

It’s a strange, scary time for Too Small Tola when a new virus separates her family, but Atinuke’s small-but-mighty heroine proves once again how wise, kind, and resourceful she can be.

In ordinary times, Tola lives in an apartment in Lagos, Nigeria, with her clever sister, Moji; her sporty brother, Dapo; and bossy Grandmommy. Tola is so happy! But news of a new virus—and a lockdown, too—sends Moji away in one direction and Dapo in another. Then, when Grandmommy can no longer go out to work, Tola goes instead. She works for the wealthy Diamond family and makes new friends among the household staff. But even the wealthy have problems—and only Too Small Tola is big enough to rise to solve them. Brimming with genuine emotion and ultimately reassuring, Atinuke’s third book to feature the brave and endearing Tola, illustrated with zeal by Onyinye Iwu, shines with the light of resilience and hope.Atinuke’s stories interweave with Iwu’s charming illustrations so effortlessly that readers will be enthralled by the Tola’s timely adventures. . . . gives readers and their families a big message of hope, strength, and triumph in this series addition about ­COVID-19
—School Library Journal

A young Nigerian girl grapples with the impact of a global pandemic. . . . The author empathetically portrays the harsh reality some populations faced during quarantine, along with the disparity between wealthy and low-income people, in a way that will be manageable for young readers. . . . Remarkable and timely.
—Kirkus ReviewsAtinuke was born in Nigeria and spent her childhood in both Africa and the United Kingdom. She is the author of Too Small Tola and Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls as well as the best-selling Anna Hibiscus series, illustrated by Lauren Tobia, and Africa, Amazing Africa: Country by Country, illustrated my Mouni Feddag. Atinuke started her career as an oral storyteller of tales from the African continent. Now she writes about contemporary life in Nigeria. She lives on a mountain overlooking the sea in West Wales.

Onyinye Iwu was born in Italy, where she spent most of her childhood, then moved to the UK when she was a teenager. A teacher by day and an artist by night, Onyinye Iwu is the illustrator of Too Small Tola and Too Small Tola and the Three Fine Girls by Atinuke and many other acclaimed books for young readers. She lives in London.Tola lives in a run-down block of apartments in the megacity of Lagos, in the country of Nigeria. She lives with her grandmother, who is very bossy; her sister, Moji, who is very clever; and her brother, Dapo, who works very, very hard.
   Some say that more than twenty million people also live in Lagos.
   There are billionaires with private helicopters to take them to Mecca every Friday.
   And there are people with no bank accounts. If they miss one day of work, they cannot buy food that day.
   Tola and her family are lucky. Tola’s brother, Dapo, has a job as a mechanic. And they can buy as much food as they need!
   Dapo earns so much that Grandmommy does not need to work selling groundnuts by the side of the road like she used to do. Now Grandmommy can stay at home and chat with the neighbors who live in the other rooms in the block of apartments. And now Tola can go to school every day instead of having to help sell groundnuts sometimes.
   Tola loves school! And when she comes home, there is always food ready. And food is even packed for Mrs. Shaky-Shaky too.
   Mrs. Shaky-Shaky is a neighbor who is too shaky to cook for herself. So Grandmommy often packs food for her. All the neighbors do.
   “Come and eat,” Grandmommy says to Tola every day when she gets home. “Eat and then you can concentrate on your schoolwork.”
   And every day Tola hugs Grandmommy.
   It is so good to eat. So good to have time for homework.
   One evening, Tola opens her math notebook. She loves how numbers fit together like a puzzle—a puzzle that you can put together and then take apart again.
   She stares at the pages where she has written her times tables. And suddenly, Tola sees the answers to division problems!
   “Moji!” Tola shouts.
   Tola’s sister, Moji, does not look up from her borrowed school computer. Moji has a scholarship to a fine-fine school. She is determined to become a doctor.
   Grandmommy says, “Tola, do not bother your sister!”
   Grandmommy is determined that Moji become a doctor too. Then they will be able to live in a proper house with several rooms and have a cook and a washerwoman.
   But Tola is too excited to be quiet!
   Inside the equation 3 x 12 = 36 she can see the answer to the problem 36 ÷ 12! And also the answer to 36 ÷ 3!
   Tola is sure of it. She shrieks and claps her hands.
   Moji frowns.
   “What is it?” she asks at last.
   “Multiplication and division are the same!” Tola crows. “But backward!”
   Moji smiles.
   “Show me!” she says.
   So Tola writes:
   3 x 12 = 36
   36 ÷ 12 = 3
   36 ÷ 3 = 12
   “You are right, little sister!” Moji smiles again. She looks up at Grandmommy and says, “Maybe this one could get a scholarship too!”
   Tola’s eyes become as wide as the pans Grandmommy used to fry groundnuts. Could this be true?
   But just then somebody starts shouting in the corridor outside their room, and Grandmommy hurries out.
   “A scholarship, Moji?” Tola asks with her eyes still wide.
   Dapo laughs. He is resting on the bed after his long day bent over the open hoods of broken cars.
   “What is it with you and school?” he asks. “Other girls like to think about fashion and hair and boys and babies—”
   Moji snorts. “It is you who likes to believe girls think about fashion and hair and boys and such because you want girls to be pretty and think about nothing but you!” she says.
   Dapo’s mouth opens and closes like a fish. Tola giggles.
   “But you know nothing about girls!” Moji concludes.
   Dapo narrows his eyes, but before he gets the chance to speak, shouts come through the open window.
   “Da-po! Da-po! Da-po!”
   Dapo smiles and swings his legs down from the bed. He leans out of the window.
   “How far?” he asks. “Wha’s up?”
   “We are losing!” a boy shouts back.
   “I beg, come play for us!” shouts another.
   Dapo laughs. “I work now,” he says. “I tire too much to play football.”
   There is a chorus of disagreement. But Dapo shakes his head again.
   “I cannot play now,” he says. “I am the man of my house.”
   Dapo turns away from the window—just in time to see Moji roll her eyes.
   “Wha’s your problem?” he asks.
   “Man of the house?” Moji says. “You are only fifteen!”
   “So?” Dapo sucks his teeth. “Who paid for that phone sitting next to you?”
   Moji used to be the only one in her class without a phone. And the other girls mocked her for it. When Dapo found out, he had worked overtime for weeks until he could buy a phone for Moji.
   Moji stares down at her phone now. She bites her lip and says, “Sorry, Dapo.”
   Tola’s mouth falls open.
   She has never heard Moji apologize to Dapo before!
   “No problem.” Dapo beams.
   He is grinning as if he has just won Nigeria’s Got Talent!US

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