Praise for Olympic Gardens

2009 Lorna Goodison Caribbean Award for Transformative Literature Winner

Olympic Gardens is a good read! I asked myself who will read it? At first I resisted it. It was different. It was not about a culture I knew. Then I found Roderick getting to me, growing on me, a forgotten boy, learning to find himself in a strange place. He reminds me of boys everywhere. What did I do? And he discovers a friend in Chloe. Their feelings are felt. Thanks Andrene. It was very poignant! It reminds me of the child in us all!
—Brenda Engler, Reading Specialist

In Olympic Gardens, a captivating coming-of-age novel, Andrene Bonner has recreated a forgotten period of Jamaica’s history as seen through the eyes of a precocious, fatherless boy who is growing up in what will become one of the meanest ghettoes in Kingston.

—Geoffrey Philp, Author: Who’s Your Daddy?: And Other Stories

A profound and intimate account of abandonment, loss, friendship and hope. Andrene Bonner is an excellent storyteller. This book gives its readers the rare look inside the life and plight of a struggling Jamaican young man determined to rise against the odds.
—Janet Henry Coley, English Teacher

I have sometimes forgotten some of the sights and sounds of the real Jamaica. Thank you Andrene for making me laugh, cry and cry. I love your work, so simple. Look forward to more books from you. Brilliant work.

—Lorna Owens, Author: Everyday Grace Everyday Miracle: Living The Life You Were Born to Live, International Speaker, Host of and the women gather radio