Never Stop Walking: A Memoir of Finding Home Across the World (edición 2018)

I liked this book more than I thought I would. It is the story of a Swedish woman who was born in Brazil and raised by her mother until she was removed from her mother's care and adopted by a Swedish family when she was eight years old. She lived in a cave with her mother and then on the streets of a poor neighborhood in Sau Paulo Brazil. She was street smart and headstrong. She witnessed her friend being killed when she was five. She killed someone when she was a little older. She stole and lied and fiercely loved her mother. As an adult, she returned to Brazil with a friend to sort out her memories and learn what had happened to the orphanage and the mother she left behind. ( )

Christina Rickardsson's story of life as a street kid in São Paulo with her sometimes absent mother, her eventual adoption to Sweden, and her trip back to Brazil to find her mother and family. Rickardsson isn't the greatest of writers, her language is very repetitive and especially her internal reflection sound more like journal entries than anything really contemplative or insightful. Also, some of her recollections from when she was three and four years old are suspiciously detailed and I can only assume that these are memories that her mind has created out of remembered fragments rather than actual events. Her story is interesting, however, and probably only meant to awaken readers to the plights of poor children (since Rickardsson runs a charity foundation for vulnerable children). Not a great read, but worth reading. ( )

A sad memoir, filled with love.
Christiana spent her early years with her mother living in the wilderness and the slums of Brazil with her very loving and extremely impoverished mother. She is taken away from her mother and put in an orphanage where she is adopted by a couple from Sweden. Thus Christina is born. Never knowing why she was taken from her mother, she set out to find her.
I struggled with some of the writing as it just went on and on, almost like a stream of consciousness; which is great during self-discovery but, not so good with a book.
My rating is based on the writing/editing and is no indication of the immense respect that I have for the writer and her accomplishments in life. ( )

I obtained this book through Amazon First Reads.

As a person adopted at birth who later in life found my birth parents, I was intrigued to find a memoir of a child who was adopted in late childhood and in adulthood went back to find her mother.

This is an amazing story, and the writing is compelling. Christina was born as Christiana in the poorest section of Sao Palo, Brazil. She had a brutal upbringing and was tough enough (and lucky at times) to survive. When she was seven, she was placed in an orphanage with her brother and both were adopted by a Swedish couple. A night and day different world, in many respects.

The main portions of the story interlace her trip back to Brazil when she was in her 30s with the harsh reality she faced growing up. It is a gripping tale that is impossible to put down for the evening. To warn - some of the details of her growing up are very, very dark.

I have an incredible respect for the author. She not only survived a brutal childhood but has thrived, as has her brother. The reunion with her mother added beautiful notes to the story.

I'd say this is a five-star must read, but (warning) it may not be suitable for some readers who have suffered childhood trauma. For those who can, it is a compelling read. ( )