I just submitted Born in the Big Rains: A Memoir of Somalia and Survival. Hailed in the German press as an author of "astonishing courage and sense of humor," anti-FGM (female genital mutilation) activist Fadumo Korn forthrightly describes her brutal circumcision at age seven and her long and agonizing path to physical and psychological recovery. As a child, Fadumo freely roams the steppes of Somalia until her mother delivers her into the hands of an excisor to undergo a horrific "ritual" cutting to make her a woman in the eyes of her tribe. When complications ensue-and escalate-Fadumo travels to the sprawling capital of Mogadishu and the household of a relative who is close to the incoming Somali president. The girl then experiences firsthand a world of incongruous luxury amid political instability in a country on the edge of civil war. Fadumo's condition later becomes so life threatening that she is sent for treatment to Germany, where she recovers. Eventually, Fadumo marries and, following corrective surgery, she bears a child. Fadumo Korn weaves together a sensitive understanding of traditional practices with revelations about their disturbing effects. This deftly crafted memoir, suffused with sorrow and surprising humor, is an unblinkered history of a life replete with trauma and pain as well as recovery and activism. Today Korn campaigns against FGM while remaining sensitive to the fact that many young African women value it as a passage to womanhood. Amber Book blog: http://community.livejournal.com/book_cuddler/ I have accepted a seat in the House of Representatives, and thereby have consented to my own ruin, to your ruin, and to the ruin of our children. I give you this warning that you may prepare your mind for your fate. John Adams E-Mail: amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx