Out of the Shadows

By Jason Wallace

‘Out of Shadows’ is a book set in Zimbabwe after the civil war during the 1970’s. Robert Jacklin has just moved from England (Pommesland) to a new school called Haven, in Africa, as his father has been offered a new job. Robert’s new classmates are still unsettled from the war, as the guns are still loud in there head and the wariness is still around the country.

Robert soon makes friends with Ivan and becomes part of his gang, but there is one condition, he must stay away from black boys like Nelson! Throughout the book there is a constant ‘battle’ between the two racial factions, the ‘Whites’ and the ‘Blacks’.

I really enjoyed this book as it was not only very action-packed and descriptive but also taught me a lot about this era in Zimbabwe, such as facts about Robert Mugabe, the then new, prime minister and the general life differences for the white and black skinned people! I thought this book was really descriptive, so I could really picture everything that was described, practically Ivan's house and farm! I also thought it was very clever in the way at witch Wallace chose to have Robert from England as it showed how absurd it seemed to him, as Africa, in many ways, was so far behind England in equal rights. Another factor I really enjoyed about this book is the way African slang was used such as calling someone a ‘pomme’ if they were British as it really set the scene.

Also the book showed, how, although the war had ended how unhappy white people, such as Ivan and his family had become, as they still thought that white people were better than black. Another reason white people may be upset with the new government, is that Robert Mugabe was tacking away all of the white people's farms and property and giving it to his supporters (normally darker skinned people) even if the farms had been in the family for over a hundred years!

Overall, I really enjoyed this book as I thought it was very well written and informative about the era and I would definitly read it again and recommend it!

Jess Year 8