In this novel, the author Beverley Naidoo gives the reader a glimpse at prejudice, fear, and the things that happen to both bring people together and tear them apart. Naidoo grew up in South Africa as a white person. For a long time only white people had power in South Africa – everything depended on your skin color. According to the author, “As a child I never questioned why I could live with my parents in a comfortable home, go to school, play in the park and do all sorts of things black children were not free to do. My upbringing led me to believe that white people were superior and it was natural for them to have the best of everything. But when I realised how false this was, I became very angry at all the injustice around me – and how I was part of it.”
This book is an engaging story that takes place in Kenya in the early 1950s. The story tells us about two boys, 11 and 13. The younger boy’s, Matthew Grayson, grandfather came to Africa just before World War I because the British government promised cheap land and labor. The older boy’s, Mugo, grandfather had owned this land, but had gone to Nairobi to help the British with the war effort. When he returned, his land had been settled by Grayson. Now Mugo’s family is part of the cheap labor for the Graysons.
Matthew and Mugo have been friends. Mugo has taught Matthew much and they have become friends. At least as much friends as colonialism allowed – whites were always superior to the native Africans. The author lets the reader see the story from the points of view of each of the boys. The Mau Mau, a secret society and a guerilla fighting force, began a rebellion to take back what was rightfully theirs. This changed life for these boys and the story tells us how.
This is a great way for you to learn about a time in history that I am sure most of you are completely unaware of. The Kenyans freed themselves from British rule on December 12, 1963.
President Obama’s grandfather was a victim of this era of violence in Kenya.
