29 December 2008 BURN MY HEART , by Beverley Naidoo, HarperCollins/Amistad, December 2008, 201p., ISBN: 978-0-06-143297-2; Libr. ISBN: 978-0-06-413297-2

"Mugo knew the story of his grandfather's adventuring spirit. When Baba was a little boy, Grandfather had gone away to Nairobi. He found work with the British army, and when a big war started between the British and Germany wazungu [white people], Grandfather went to help carry the wounded soldiers.

"However, when Mugo's grandfather was away from home, a family of wazungu had arrived in an oxcart. The mzungu man, the head of this family, had a piece of paper called 'proof.' It said that he had paid money for this land and that now it belonged to him! Grandfather's younger brothers had protested that there must be a mistake. They showed the mzungu man the place where their ancestors were buried near the grove of sacred mugumo trees. This was their land, their sacred place. Their family had lived here under their mountain Kirinyaga for generation after generation. But the mzungu man insisted that the 'proof' of his ownership was on his piece of paper. He would let them stay on the land if they helped him build a house, clear away brush, and work on what he called 'his farm.' Mugo's family had been stunned. There was no choice but to work for the new wazungu. This was how Baba first began to herd cattle for the Grayson family when he was not much higher than his mother's hip."

Decades later, when the story begins, it is 1951 in Kenya. Baba is an adult (and father) in charge of the stables. He has spent his life here, next to the mzungu man's son Jack Grayson, who has grown up to become the bwana [master]. Just as his father had been with Jack Grayson, young Mugo has been a big brother figure to the slightly younger Matthew Grayson.

Tensions are rapidly mounting in 1951 Kenya. The British colonialism does not permit any sharing of power with the native Kenyans. The decades of frustration experienced by the Kenyans have led to the political movement called the Mau Mau, a secret society "whose members took oaths and swore to fight unto death to get back their land." It is amidst this dramatic historical setting, and between the white boy's family and the black boy's family, that suspicion, treachery and deceit will lead to heartbreak, torture, and tragedy. (And you know very well who is going to get the bitter end of this deal.)

"Mugo looked up to see the pistol pointing at them."

Told in alternating chapters by the two teen characters who have grown up like brothers, the two hundred tensely engaging pages of BURN MY HEART make for a perfect introduction to British colonialism. I sure wish I had eye-opening books of this quality when I was in ninth grade, trying to make sense of the diversity of African geography and cultures, and the history that connects this tale to crises and issues in various corners of that continent today. And I'd love to listen in as readers debate which of these characters deserve what praise and blame for what takes place, given that all of the young characters have been born into an existing, unconscionable system.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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