The Garbage King, By Elizabeth Laid

The Garbage King, written by Elizabeth Laird should be used as one of the main novel study books in the International Baccalaureate Middle Years Program (IBMYP). This book provides students with an illustration of what the IB trait of Risk Taking should be. The main characters in the story, Dani and Mamo take numerous risks to tackle their life changing issues, such as escaping from their living conditions and putting their lives in danger in order to gain freedom. In the story, some decisions that were made by Dani and Mamo which threatened the lives of many characters, these several decisions also impacted the lives of their loved ones. The sacrifices in the story were not always thought out, but it teaches the students to learn from
For example pages 75-82 in which one of the main characters, Mamo, took the risk of running away from child labour. He could have been caught and beaten or even killed. He took that risk and he escaped successfully. This was a thought out decision and a good example of risk taking. Many other daring actions were taken later throughout the story, such as in Chapter 12, when Getachew, one of the members in their gang, took the risk of stealing cigarettes and later admitting his crime. The result would be that Getachew would be kicked out of the gang and would have to live on the streets alone without any support and eventually starve to death. The characters take a risk and admit their acts,
The gang took the risk of taking Karate from the hospital even though he needed medical care, and wasn’t sure how long he would live. They took Karate because they missed him and cared so much about him that seeing him in a state where he was depressed and in pain made them feel sorry for him. This was a good decision since Karate was in emotional and physical pain at the hospital, compared to only physical pain if he stayed with the gang. Another risk taken for a loved one was when Dani’s mother was taken to London, England to treat her heart disease. Even though she had a high chance of dying on the journey, she survived and recovered successfully. This was a good decision because she would eventually pass away if she had stayed at home as there was no medical care given to her. Since she was sent to London for proper care, she still had a chance for