Starred Review ALA Booklist (Wed Oct 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Starred Review On a Kenyan farm in the early 1950s, Matthew, 11, and Mugo, 13, are friends but not equals. Long ago, Matthew's white grandfather had sailed from England and "acquired" 5,000 acres. Mugo's Kikuyu grandfather lost his ancestral land, and his family was forced to work as laborers for the white settlers. Now the Mau Mau rebels are determined to reclaim land from the whites in a violent uprising. Matthew's dad is sure his workers are loyal. But after a fire on the farm rages out of control, Mugo's family is falsely accused of arson, Mugo witnesses his father's torture in prison, and the family is detained without trial in a forced labor camp. As in Naidoo's previous historical novels, including the apartheid story Journey to Jo'burg (1986), the politics are sharply personalized through the daily lives of young people. Naidoo's afterword fills in more historical background. The dramatic plot is riveting (who started the fire?), and so is the setting, where wild animals and people live close to each other. Told from the alternating third-person viewpoints of Mugo and Matthew, the friendship story is haunting, and the terse narratives show the differences within each community. Mugo's older brother joins the Mau Mau. Matthew's white neighbors are rabid racists. Many readers will find parallels to contemporary questions about the differences between terrorists and freedom fighters.

Horn Book

Mathew, son of a British landowner in Kenya, and Mugo, son of a black stableman who works on Mathew's father's land, continue a tenuous friendship begun by their grandfathers. As the Mau Mau movement for Kenyan independence builds during the 1950s, the trust between their families erodes. Lyrical text and a vivid setting bring to light this turbulent time in Africa's history. Glos.

Kirkus Reviews

Set in Kenya between November 1951 and March 1953, when indigenous Kikuyus fiercely resisted the British settlers who had stolen their lands, this somber story sheds light on a dark period of rebellion and repression fueled by racial prejudice and fear. The third-person narration, peppered with Kikuyu and Swahili words and phrases, shifts its focus between 13-year-old Mugo, a Kikuyu, and 11-year-old Mathew Grayson, son of a white landholder; they have grown up together on land once owned by Mugo's ancestors. Unlike many of his white neighbors, who fear their workers will join the secret Mau Mau society and attack them, Mr. Grayson trusts Mugo's father, who manages his stables. At school, Mathew is troubled by an arrogant bully whose father is the new police inspector, intent on crushing the illegal Mau Maus—whom Mugo's brother has joined in infiltrating Grayson's farm. As the tension mounts, readers will rightly fear that no good end can result; like Mathew and Mugo, readers' hearts will be burned by this intense slice of historical realism. (author's note, afterword, glossary, Kikuyu and Swahili names) (Historical fiction. 10-15)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Alternating its focus between Mathew, a white farmer's son growing up in Kenya during the 1950s, and Mugo, a native African close to Mathew's age, this novel paints a grim picture of British imperialism and revolution. Mathew and Mugo have been lifelong friends, even though Mugo has been a trusted servant in Mathew's household since the day he saved the then six-year-old Mathew by killing a snake. But the friends' loyalty is tested when rumors of deadly uprisings against white settlers sweep the country, and two groups, the Mau Mau (a band of angry revolutionaries) and “red hats” (police guards trying to control the Mau Mau), become a threat. Examining the effects of hatred and distrust, Naidoo (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">The Other Side of Truth) casts steadfast Mugo as a far nobler and more likable figure than Mathew, who fails to stand up for Mugo at critical moments. If the author's political message overshadows characters' development at times, the book successfully evokes the fears and moral dilemmas plaguing both European and native Africans in the post–WWII era. Ages 10–up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Jan.)

School Library Journal (Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2009)

Gr 6-9 Naidoo sets this novel in Kenya in the early 1950s, at the beginning of the State of Emergency, which led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Kenyans. Mathew Grayson, son of a prosperous white farmer, and Mugo, son of the Kikuyu man in charge of the horses on the farm, are friends, with all the complexities and inequalities inevitable in such a relationship. As the secret and illegal Kikuyu opposition grows, the differences in the lives of the two boys become sharper and clearer. Then Mathew and a boy from school accidentally cause potential danger to explode into disaster. Naidoo is at her signature best when describing the relationships between the settlers and the indigenous Kenyan people: her careful description of the dialogue and the characters' visible responses is all it takes to lay bare the poison of racism. The story is grounded in the boys, seen through the collision between Mathew's childish reality, and the far scarier adult reality that Mugo, only a little older, is forced to accept. As the strands of the story finally come together and ignite in a literal conflagration, the narrative is heart-stopping. Mathew is faced with a dilemma that will ultimately test his courage: will he tell the truth and risk his standing in the settler community, or will he betray Mugo? The consequences are terrible and brutal. In addition to being an extremely effective tool in ethics discussions, the story will speak powerfully to readers concerned about justice and human rights, as well as those simply looking for a well-told story. Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City

Voice of Youth Advocates

Before World War I, MathewÆs grandfather and many others left Europe to settle on inexpensive land in Kenya. Once there, they learned that the land had belonged to his friend MugoÆs ancestors, the Kikuyo people, for several generations. The European settlersùthe wazunguùignored the inhabitants of the land, however, and forced them into servitude. When this story begins in the 1950s, Mathew and Mugo enjoy a warped friendship/master-and-servant existence as their fathers did before them. Yet their worlds are changing. The Mau Mau Movement has begun, and an emergency has been declared. Frustrated after years of trying to obtain their rights through legal and peaceful means, Kenyans are now fighting. Mathew and MugoÆs families are deeply affected as Mau Maus are attacking officials, settlers, and Kenyans who fail to support their efforts. The tension is so high that MathewÆs family is convinced that MugoÆs family has pledged loyalty to the Mau Mau cause. Naidoo skillfully creates enough suspicion so that the reader is never totally sure whether MugoÆs family is completely disloyal. She also presents both sides (the settlers and the Mau Mau people) in a way that might make it difficult for one to fully support a particular viewpoint. The authorÆs note at the beginning and the afterword help to provide context for the issues and perspectives offered in the narrative. A thoughtful librarian, teacher, or parent will be needed to help move young readers past the dull first chapter.ùKaaVonia Hinton-Johnson.