By the final chapters of the fourth volume the author's disenchantment was growing.

ECONOMIST: A picture that is worth a million words

Happy Birthday was sung (in French, English, the local Wolof, and a fourth language this author has yet to determine), homemade cake was unveiled and dance moves were displayed.

FORBES: Thoughts from Aby on Her Thirteenth Birthday

Jack Gantos is author of the Joey Pigza books, Jack Adrift: Fourth Grade without a Clue and Hole in My Life.

NPR: 'Guys Read:' Encouraging Boys to Love Books