Synopses & Reviews
Will the truth harm them -- or save them?
When Nigeria's corrupt military government kills their mother, twelve-year-old Sade and her brother Femi think their lives are over. Out of fear for their safety, their father, an outspoken journalist, decides to smuggle the children out of Nigeria and into London, where their uncle lives. But when they get to the cold and massive city, they find themselves lost and alone, with no one to trust and no idea when -- or if -- they will ever see their father again.
The Other Side of Truth is a gripping adventure story about courage, family, and the power of truth.
Review
“Vivid portrayal of complex people caught in complex webs using their culture for strength in a time of need.” Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
After their mother's murder, Sade and her younger brother are smuggled out of Nigeria and sent to London, where they live in foster homes. Their father escapes to England to join them -- but he will be sent back to Nigeria unless Sade can find a way to tell the world what happened to her family. Beverley Naidoo's new novel explores the issues of family, exile, and freedom with eloquence and stunning realism.
About the Author
Beverly Naidoo grew up in South Africa under the apartheid system. An active resister to apartheid, she lived in her home country until departing to study at the University of York in England. There she began writing in exile and in 1985 published her first children's book, the award-winning
Journey to Jo'burg, which was dedicated to her nanny's two daughters who died from diptheria because only white people were inoculated at the time.
Journey To Jo'burg was banned in South Africa until 1991.
Beverly Naidoo has taught primary and secondary school in London and worked as an Advisor for English and Cultural Diversity in Dorset. She has a Ph.D. in exploring issues of racism with young people through literature and works tirelessly to promote children's entitlement to grow up free from racism and injustice. Her newest novel is The Other Side Of Truth, for which she won an Arts Council of England Writer's Award in 1999 for work-in-progress as well as the Smarties Silver Medal in 2000 and the Library Association's prestigious Carnegie Medal.