Brief overview:
This middle grade novel explores the historical event in 1972 when President Idi Amin announced Indians must leave Uganda in 90 days. The story unpacks how this news impacts two friends on different sides of the edict.Recommended age range: 4th grade & up
Strengths:
- Provides a kid-friendly angle to this historical event
- Switches between two different POVs (Yesofu and Asha) which allows readers to see this story from an African and Indian perspective
- Well-written to pull reader along in the narrative
- Asha grapples with issues she never thought of before and experiences real growth
- Yesofu's journey is powerful as he balances loyalty to a friend who never fully understood his world, but a desire to remain a part of his community without crossing any lines
- As the book progresses, more violence is mentioned. While this is adapted for young readers, it may be worth a parent reading ahead to ensure they're comfortable with various scenes (such as a teacher getting beat up, kids threatened by a soldier with a gun, etc.)
- References to other violence is mentioned in conversations between kids (such as people killed and thrown into the river).
- Toward the end of the book, there's a scene where Yesofu and his dad go fishing in a boat and catch a dead body by accident. This moment doesn't add much to the storyline and could be skipped.