We Need New Names Summary
NoViolet Bulawayo

We Need New Names Overview

We Need New Names is the debut novel of expatriate Zimbabwean author NoViolet Bulawayo. The narrative follows ten-year-old protagonist Darling who is introduced living in the village of Paradise in the politically torn and poverty-ridden Zimbabwe. Thanks to her aunt Fostalina, Darling gets the opportunity to immigrate to the United States, where she struggles to assimilate into a strange and foreign culture. We Need New Names is a coming-of-age novel that explores themes of identity, home, family, change, and resilience. NOTE: Citations in this lesson plan refer to the hard-cover publication of We Need New Names, published by Vintage, 2014.