School Library Journal Review
Gr 5 Up-Twelve South African teenagers, from a wide range of social, economic, ethnic, and regional backgrounds, tell what it was like to live under apartheid and how the system has affected them. Each chapter contains a youth's personal narrative; the text is accompanied by a full-page, black-and-white portrait plus five or six snapshot-sized photos of the subject with family and friends. The young men and women eloquently express their feelings of pain, confusion, and anger resulting from the inequities of apartheid. What was it like to be black in South Africa, to live in a shack with no plumbing or heating? What was it like to be white and live a sheltered life of comfort and privilege? What was it like to be Coloured (of mixed race) with a way of life somewhere in between abject poverty and privilege? The young people tell it all. The narratives are clearly written, illuminating a particular time and place; many are touching, demonstrating the ability of the young to heal themselves and develop new dreams for the future. A foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and an introduction that provides historical and political background on this country are also included. An informative and timely book.-Gebregeorgis Yohannes, San Francisco Public Library, CA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Though their country is still bitterly divided by race, "most South Africans seem to share an almost uncanny confidence that... a stable, vibrant nation will emerge," claims the author of this hope-filled volume of profiles. In their own words, 12 teens representing the country's many ethnic groups (African, Coloured, Indian and white) describe the harsh realities of their lives under apartheid and the ways things have changed since the election of President Nelson Mandela. Some of the teens hint at the complex problems their country still facesa Coloured girl who once didn't feel "white" enough now doesn't feel black enough; a young activist is frustrated by his peers' lack of political involvementbut none espouses extreme positions (no white featured here still believes in apartheid, for example). Their predominantly upbeat attitude, as well as McKee's informative, if occasionally overly politically correct, introductions to each profile keep the book focused on the promise that lies ahead, rather than the difficulties. Although the composition of the black-and-white photographs tends toward the unimaginative, the soft-focus style of the portraits complements the text's optimistic tone. What carries this volume is the vitality of the teens' voices themselves, and their impassioned debate of universal issues of poverty, racism, faith and reconciliation. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate, Older) In a welcome successor to Jason and Ettagale Lauré's South Africa: Coming of Age under Apartheid, Tim McKee and Anne Blackshaw explore post-apartheid South Africa through the voices and faces of its young. Twelve young adults, ranging in age from thirteen to nineteen, talk in fluid first-person interviews of their optimism for a nonracial government, and the op-pression and indignities they suffered-or inflicted-under the white regime. "Why must they move near us, why must they take our land over, why must they mix with us?," thought fifteen-year-old Afrikaner Leandra, whose beliefs be-gan to change after blacks began to join her church: "I mean, if you love God, you love God." Interestingly, the strongest criticism of the Mandela administration comes from a Vendan boy who lives in a traditional rural community that has seen no improvement in its lot with the change in government. But there is no racism expressed here, only hope guarded to greater or lesser degrees. Eight of the twelve interviewed are black, two white, and one each Indian and coloured-distinctions that most of those interviewed here see as increasingly meaningless. Black-and-white photos of the subjects with their families and friends are respectful as well as candid; lengthy captions, unfortunately, are printed in a fussy typeface and distract from the text. r.s. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 6^-12. The direct, honest voices of 12 South African teens who had diverse experiences under apartheid will engage readers in this powerful photo-essay. In his introduction to each piece, McKee, a journalist and former high-school teacher in South Africa, draws connections between the laws that institutionalized racial segregation and the particular details of each life. Against a backdrop of poverty, violence, abandonment, exile, and privilege, there emerge themes that will resonate with teens everywhere. Growing up in a Coloured township, where gangs and drugs are a part of everyday life, 18-year-old Nithinia talks about her struggle for identity: "I'd always say to myself, if only my hair was straight and I had blue eyes, I'd be white." A sense of community has sustained 16-year-old Ricardo, who dreams of a house for his mother in their neglected shantytown because "our roots are here, everything we do is here." In contrast, it is the teens who have lacked a real sense of home--such as 17-year-old Michael, who spent four years on the streets of Johannesburg--whose stories are among the saddest. McKee acknowledges that biases run deep in the "new South Africa," as evidenced by the language of 15-year-old Leandra, a white farm girl who is struggling to shed her racism but still sees blacks as "them." Still, the stereotype-shattering finale about 13-year-old Indian Lavendhri Pillay, who has grown up in an old--and successfully--integrated neighborhood in Johannesburg, makes the optimism of these young people seem justified. Teachers and librarians will find numerous opportunities here to make connections to other great books: the oppression experienced by 19-year-old Nomfundo on a white-owned farm has similarities to that of Leon Tillage, the son of black sharecroppers in the Jim Crow South (Leon's Story [1997]). Anne Blackshaw's engaging photographs (the jacket photos are absolutely vibrant) and their captions extend the narrative with a focus on the personal details of the individual teens' everyday life. A wonderful book. --Julie Corsaro