What does it mean to be loyal? Mathew and Mugo, two boys—one white, one black—share an uneasy friendship in Kenya in the 1950s. They're friends even though Mathew's dad owns the land and everything on it. They're friends despite the difference in their skin color. And they're friends in the face of the growing Mau Mau rebellion, which threatens British settlers with violence as black Kenyans struggle to win back their land and freedom. But suspicions and accusations are escalating, and an act of betrayal could change everything. Internationally acclaimed, award-winning author Beverley Naidoo explores the fragile bonds of friendship in this stunning novel about prejudice, fear, and the circumstances that bring people together—and tear them apart. Starred Review. Grade 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 Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. *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. Grades 7-12. --Hazel Rochman “Naidoo does an impressive job of maintaining the child’s perspective on the rebellion. The resolution is poignant in its lack of resolution; the pain is left raw and untended, as it should be.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books “...The book successfully evokes the fears and moral dilemmas plaguing both European and native Africans in the post-WWII era.” - Publishers Weekly “The dramatic plot is riveting...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.” - ALA Booklist (starred review) “Like Mathew and Mugo, readers’ hearts will be burned by this intense slice of historical realism.” - Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “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