Synopses & Reviews
"In South Africa we are learning to heal through the telling of stories like these, for it is only through telling that we heal." -Archbishop Desmond Tutu Through powerful personal narratives and photographs, this remarkable book brings together twelve South African teenagers whose distinct voices illuminate their experiences under apartheid and the joyous yet challenging years of freedom since. In their own words, these teens reveal what it was like to grow up in a country bitterly divided by racial separation, violence, and poverty. Eighteen-year-old Bandile Mashinini tells of police breaking down his door night after night because of his family's outspoken resistance to apartheid. Sixteen-year-old Ricardo Thando Tollie speaks of living in a tin shack only a few miles from the elegant houses of white suburbs. And fifteen-year-old Leandra Jansen van Vuuren describes her isolated childhood as a white South African, taught only to fear and mistrust people with skin darker than her own. But here, too, are stories of hope; of a willingness to reach out, to forgive, and to heal. Although they speak with a diverse range of voices, experiences, and attitudes, these young people are united in the belief that the new South Africa will truly be different from the one they have known. Their lives stand testament to the power and resilience of the human spirit and to a country's ability to redefine itself.
Review
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. (Publishers Weekly, August 24th 1998)
Review
A rich portrait of young people displaying grace in a time of upheaval, NO MORE STRANGERS NOW will most definitely be a hit with secondary social studies teachers and their students. (Children's Literature, August 1999)
Synopsis
Seven-year-old Alex starts to lose her baby teeth, begins a correspondence with the Tooth Fairy, and tries to accept the fact that her family is moving to a distant state.
About the Author
Tim McKee lived in South Africa for four years, witnessing the final years of apartheid and Nelson Mandela's historic victory while teaching history and English at a multiracial high school in Johannesburg. After studying for his master's degree in journalism at the University of Missouri, he returned to South Africa in 1996 to work with his former students and to launch the school's first student newspaper. His experiences with his students sparked the creation of this book. A graduate of Princeton University, Tim McKee now lives in Northern California. Anne Blackshaw, an anti-apartheid activist in the 1980s, first visited South Africa in 1992, where she began documenting the lives of South Africans with her camera. She then worked as a women's and civil rights advocate in the California legislature. She returned to South Africa in 1996 to serve as an organizer and counselor for People Opposing Women Abuse in Johannesburg. There she continued her work as a photographer, focusing on women and young people. This book was her way of capturing some of the vibrant spirit propelling change in South Africa. Anne Blackshaw now lives in northern California.