Leila Toledo (Children's Literature)
From the time that Sade hears the two shots that take her mother's life her world is turned upside down. She and her brother Femi are shipped off to England to be with their uncle for safety until their father can join them. Truth is what disrupted their lives. Sade's Papa, Folarin Solaja, is a journalist who works for a small, weekly newspaper dedicated to printing the truth about the corrupt military of his homeland, Nigeria. It has cost him his wife. The children's arrival in London does not go according to plans. The uncle who was to meet them is nowhere to be found. The woman who escorted them to England deserts them. After encounters with some savory characters, the children end up in a maze of agencies. Finally they are taken in by a foster family who cares for them. The school culture that they encounter is very traumatic for Sade and Femi. It is nothing like Nigeria. Children they come in contact with are rude to authority figures, to each other and of course, Sade and Femi are prime candidates for abuse. Papa finally arrives in London but is to be sent back to Nigeria. Sade and Femi devise a plan to save their father by letting the world know what happened to their family and why it happened. This is a story that grips you and doesn't let go, even after you've read the final words. 2000, HarperCollins, $16.95. Ages 10 to 18.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2002)
On the opening page of this riveting novel, 12-year-old Sade's mother is murdered, the victim of a corrupt Nigerian government that is seeking to prevent Sade's journalist father from writing about the oppression there. Little more than 24 hours later, Sade and her ten-year-old brother, Femi, are alone on the streets of London. They were smuggled out of Nigeria for their own safety. But the plans to deliver them into their uncle's care have gone terribly wrong. They are exiles, perhaps even orphans, and numb with grief. They end up in the foster care system, where adults genuinely want to help them. Yet Sade knows -- for their own safety and the safety of their father, who may or may not have escaped -- that she can't reveal who she and her brother really are. Then Sade learns that her father is in London. He escaped from Nigeria under a false name. Now the Nigerian government claims he murdered his wife, and the British government is holding him for extradition. What lengths will Sade go to persuade people of the truth? All that her father and mother taught her haunts, and eventually fortifies, Sade as she feels her way through life as a refugee. Beverley Naidoo's moving novel works on multiple levels, from its bracing indictment of political corruption and oppression to its portrait of two children reeling from grief and shocking change. The story ends with Sade and Femi reunited with their father. CCBC categories: Fiction for Young Adults; Issues in Today's World. 2001, HarperCollins, 252 pages, $15.95. Ages 11-14.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, July 1, 2001 (Vol. 69, No. 13))
Gripping suspense rules as Naidoo describes a young girl's world turned upside down by political events, first in Nigeria and then London. On the first page, Sade's mother is shot and killed by policemen, and she and her younger brother Femi are suddenly spirited out of their home country. Sade's father is an idealistic honest journalist, committed to telling the truth about the ruling "Buttons," as he terms the Generals. Things go from bad to worse as the roadblocks and officials in Nigeria turn out to be less dangerous than their accompanying protectoress. Abandoned penniless and poorly dressed for November in London, Sade and Femi find their uncle has disappeared and they are homeless. Hoping only that they can hang on until their father can leave Nigeria as well, the two find themselves thrown into the social-services mill and taken into a foster home, struggling to apply for political asylum without endangering anyone in Nigeria. The foster homes, school system, and another refugee from Somalia, Mariam, alternately provide comfort and challenge. Naidoo ably sticks to Sade's immediate need to be true to her own values and needs, focusing on her memories of home and cultural icons as she looks for help. The larger political message that children should feel safe and not have to fear for their lives in any country is effortlessly apparent, as is the fact that both Nigeria and Britain have a way to go in claiming safety and justice for all. Far from being a patronizing glimpse of life in the third world, this is a vivid portrayal of complex people caught in complex webs using their own culture for strength in a time of need. Real-world scary. 2001, HarperCollins, $15.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 to 14. © 2001 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Rebecca Rabinowitz (KLIATT Review, May 2003 (Vol. 37, No. 3))
When a repressive military regime in Nigeria attempts to murder an outspoken journalist but instead murders his wife, their two children are thrown into a spiral of trauma and change. With barely a few hours to absorb the loss of their mother, 12-year-old Sade and her younger brother Femi are smuggled out of Nigeria to hopefully safer London, leaving their beloved father behind in grave and obvious danger. Abandoned in London and unable to find their uncle, they wander the streets and are taken into the foster care system. The system works well for them but cannot outweigh the swirls of grief and shock that they suffer over their mother's murder and the worry about their father's safety. Excellent writing and a solid understanding of both political danger and emotional trauma make Sade and Femi's story grippingly realistic. Profound moral questions and fierce family love underlie Sade's actions as well as her father's; their choices are both admirable and painful, their actions both passionate and desperate. An author's note explains which political details are true and which fictionalized. This novel offers many things to think about (political, literary, moral, and philosophical) and an unforgettable story and characters. Category: Paperback Fiction. KLIATT Codes: JS*--Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2000, HarperTrophy, 252p., $5.99. Ages 12 to 18.

Fern Kory (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, September 2001 (Vol. 55, No. 1))
Sade’s mother is the first casualty of the truth in this event-filled novel. Her shooting death--political vengeance for her husband’s journalistic integrity--precipitates twelve-year-old Sade’s and her younger brother’s departure on a hastily arranged flight from Lagos to London, where, reeling from shock and deserted by their paid escort, they are scooped up by the British child welfare system “like two parcels with no address.” This thought-provoking novel offers readers a gripping, open-eyed exploration of what happens when principles meet practical reality in hand-to-hand combat. Naidoo skillfully takes readers through unfamiliar territory (Nigerian politics, immigration bureaucracy) and also meets them on common ground (school), laying out the basic similarity between political and schoolyard bullying. When Sade’s father tells her “We have to stand up to bullies . . . otherwise they get inside your head,” she believes him, but she has also learned that telling the truth can be lethal, and she wonders, “What could you do when you were up against people who told powerful lies?” Seamlessly integrated information and even more telling details introduce readers to the ethical complexities of global politics and well-intentioned but rule-bound bureaucracies while giving equal attention to family dynamics and individual psychologies. A brief endnote and glossary sort fiction from fact and define Nigerian terms (most clear in their original context). Winner of the 2000 Smarties silver medal in Great Britain, this story about the power of the stories we tell--and don’t tell--deserves an international readership. (Reviewed from galleys) Review Code: R* -- Denotes books of special distinction. (c) Copyright 2001, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2001, HarperCollins, 272p, $15.95 and $15.89. Grades 7-12.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Spring 2002)
In 1995 Lagos, Nigeria, twelve-year-old Sade's mother is shot to death by gunmen aiming for Sade's journalist father. To ensure his children's safety, her father arranges false identities and sends Sade and her younger brother to London. This scrupulously well-observed narrative stays snug inside Sade's head, giving scenes immediacy and vividness. The book honors its political and ethical engagements and succeeds as a first-rate escape-adventure story as well. Glos. Category: Older Fiction. 2001, HarperCollins, 250pp, $15.95, $15.89. Ages 12 to 14. Rating: 1: Outstanding, noteworthy in style, content, and/or illustration.

Marge Wood (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 14, No. 3))
Few authors have the experience necessary to make them able to write such a gripping, believable novel for children, one based on the history of Nigeria. This book has won the Carnegie Award for Children's Literature. This story is about a journalist and his family in Nigeria. The journalist was the target of bullets that killed the mother on her way to her nursing job early one morning. For safety's sake, the two children, ages twelve and ten, are hustled off to London with a woman who is used to doing such things. Unfortunately, in London she loses interest in the children, and they find themselves in a strange city, afraid to disclose family information and unable to find their uncle's office where they are supposed to be. They are finally able to locate a person who helps them through an agency that places such children. All the way through, their fear of harming their father by giving out information makes it very difficult for them to receive the help they need. Finally, though, there is a happy ending, after making readers aware of the risks taken to maintain a free press in some countries. Fiction, Highly Recommended. Grades 5-8. 2001, HarperCollins, 252p, $16.89. Ages 10 to 14.

Alice F. Stern (VOYA, October 2001 (Vol. 24, No. 4))
Nigerian sister and brother Sade and Femi are devastated when their mother is gunned down in front of their home. Their father is an outspoken journalist who has criticized the ruling government. Knowing that his children's lives are in danger, he arranges for twelve-year-old Sade and the younger Femi to be smuggled to London, where they are to meet up with their professor uncle. After a nerve-wracking trip and abandonment by their chaperone, they search for their uncle only to find that he has disappeared. The pair is taken in by social services, given asylum, and put into the foster care system. Eventually their father makes it to London, but he is imprisoned. Clever thinking by Sade, leads to his release, and the family is reunited. This captivating Carnegie award-winning novel presents Sade as a likeable girl for whom it is easy to have empathy. The fear and conflicts she experiences ring true, particularly in the scenes in which students bully her in her new school. Secondary and minor characters also are well developed. The author creates a clear sense of place, both for Nigeria and for London. The appealing characters, different setting, and suspenseful plot will draw readers into the story. PLB $15.89. VOYA CODES: 5Q 4P M J S (Hard to imagine it being any better written; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, HarperCollins, 272p, $15.95. Ages 11 to 18.