From the start I knew that my central characters would be refugees and that they would come from Nigeria. When I first arrived in England, one of the few people who understood where I was coming from - and my dislocation - was a Nigerian academic at the University of York, studying for his PhD in Linguistics. His wife later joined him to do her ‘houseman’ year in a British hospital. It was the beginning of an enduring family friendship. year old Sade and her 10 year old brother Femi witness their mother being shot in broad daylight as she throws herself in front of their father when gunmen pull up in a car outside their house in a suburb of Lagos. Their father, Folarin Solaja, is a political journalist who has been openly critical of the military government. It is the time he regularly sets off for work. Their father carries Mama, who is bleeding profusely, into the house. When he lays her on the sofa, they know she is dead. Neighbours rush in to help and call a doctor. When the phone rings shortly afterwards, Sade answers. A man's voice tells her to give Folarin a message: " If we get the family first, what does it matter?" When Uncle Tunde arrives, their father insists that he arrange for the children to be got out of the country immediately, "by any means"…. Sade was the main character in the story. Sade changes at the way she looked at life and her country. With her mother dead, she became mature and knew what she had to do to survive and be safe . When she traveled to England, she saw England as a whole new world. Scent from the pink magnolia beyond the window bars drifted inside and Papa continued to gaze quietly at the window.

I was a little wary about starting The Other Side of Truth after reading the novel I read just before this, as I knew this too was a young middle grade cultural novel. I am happy to say I was proven wrong. When Papa writes articles for the newspaper, he always tells the truth. Uncle Tunde has often warned Papa not to write articles that upset Nigeria’s leaders, but Papa always says, “The truth is the truth. How can I write what’s untrue?” His latest article, which probably angered the people who killed Mama, criticizes Nigeria’s leaders for sending their children to school in Europe and America while Nigerian schools fail. Uncle Tunde reads part of this article out loud and shouts at Papa, saying that he is risking his own children for the sake of everyone else’s. The Other Side of Truth was silver runner up for the 2000 Nestlé Smarties Book Prize, was named an International Board on Books for Young People Honour Book in 2002, and won the 2002 Jane Addams Children's Book Award. [3] Allusions to historical events [ edit ] Perhaps based upon the story of Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was executed in 1995 for speaking out against the military regime at the time, The Other Side of Truth is an extremely well-woven narrative around a family's refuge and escape from political oppression. Told from the viewpoint of twelve-year-old Sade, Naidoo, whisks us across to a familiar land to the reader yet unfamiliar to brother and sister: a well-considered and powerful device in this circumstance. With no knowledge whether their father is alive or not, we the children are passed from pillar to post within the care system whilst the story of their father slowly builds up towards a powerful climax that highlights the corruption with in their home country.

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The Other Side of Truth' is a harrowing account of how the lives of Sade and her brother, Femi, are turned upside down. The story it set during the Autumn of 1995 in the aftermath of Ken Saro-Wiwa's execution in Nigeria for alleged political crimes. Sade's father, a controversial journalist for the Newspaper 'Speak' is determined to unveil the oppressive military regime in Nigeria. In an attempted assassination on his life, his wife is shot in the chest and it is made known that the culprits will return and the family must flee Nigeria. Sade and Femi are sent ahead to London with a shady woman, Mrs Bankole. On arrival in London, the children are abandoned by the Nigerian woman and have to find their own means of living. Walking through the concrete jungle of London the siblings are met with a series of unfortunate events. They are soon swept into care and have to deal with the despair of not knowing if their father is even alive whilst attending a school system which is completely foreign to them and applying for political asylum.

It's been a long time since I read a middle grade novel that didn't make me want to tear my hair out because it's so plotless, or there's no character development. As an education student, I feel like I need to make a list of the good ones that I can use as future read-alouds in a classroom, and well-written middle grade novels are increasingly hard to find.

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Papa, usually brimming over with words, simply nodded. His arms drew the children in tightly as a high trembling voice quivered next to them. Mama Buki’s cry wailed like a lonely seabird. In 1997 I decided to write a novel that would be largely set in England. It felt the right time to turn my antennae to the country that had given me and my family a home when South Africa had denied us one. I knew that on the streets of London I would find themes that explore our potential for humanity and inhumanity as readily as on the streets of Johannesburg. What actions do Sade and Femi take and where do they reside in The Other Side of Truth by Beverly Naidoo?

I read The Other Side of Truth. I liked that the book was about a poor country with a corrupt government. I also liked how the author gave me a point of view of the refugees. I also liked how the author was so realistic with his descriptions and about the children and the situation they were in. It made me sad knowing that there are so many refugees that go to different countries just like Sade and Femi just to be safe. I’ve told your father that it’s going to take a little time to get him a good passport. It will also be safer if he travels on his own. Uncle Tunde gazed down at his gold-rimmed spectacles dangling from his right thumb and finger. He seemed to be thinking about how to continue. Sade lives in Nigeria with her mother (a nurse), her father (a journalist), and her younger brother, Femi. Her father writes articles for the last remaining newspaper in Nigeria that dares to publish the truth about Nigeria's brutal military government. A powerful novel which explores what it means to be classified as 'illegal' and the difficulties which come with being a refugee - winner of the Carnegie Medal 2000.

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She also holds onto voices. In England, recalling Mama’s favourite proverbs helps Sade survive. The threads of how she remembers her parents’ words are already being woven in to the first chapter. For instance, when Papa is quiet in the face of Uncle Tunde’s exhortations, Sade recalls what he might have said in other circumstances: Totally gripping, somewhat shaming and entirely believable, this is an engrossing and thought-provoking read for 10-years-olds plus. Beverley Naidoo seems to suggest that the authorities are corrupt in The Other Side of Truth. What evidence of this has been presented in the novel so far? Uncle Tunde led Papa gently away. The plum-colored swirls on Papa’s tunic were splattered with gashes of a deeper scarlet—their mother’s blood.

Sadie is the story's protagonist. Sadie is a young Nigerian girl who witnesses the brutal murder of her mother in the Nigerian streets. The killers were targeting her father, who is an anti-government journalist. Sade and her brother are later smuggled to London for their safety. When they arrive in London, they fail to meet their uncle and end up in a foster family. Femi and Sade’s father is a journalist, a truth-teller, and someone who gets on the wrong side of the Nigerian authorities. When their mother is shot dead in front of them, the bullet was meant for him. Unfortunately, Sade and her brother Femi arrive in London, are left alone, and find out that their uncle is missing. Eventually they are placed in foster care and sent to school. This all has a happy ending, but things are pretty intense and depressing until then. Seen through the eyes of two brave, but frightened, children, this is a story of terror, loss, love and humanity.This introductory scene to be told sparsely and shown in the form of images imprinted on Sade's mind e.g. in first person present tense and possibly italicised: their mother falling, children racing towards father cradling their mother, snatches of conversation etc.]