Week 7 Post B

In this last section of reading, I was relieved to find out the ending was comforting, as I had predicted. What happened was that as the Nigerian government was attempting to persuade the English, of Mr. Solaja's supposed murder of his own wife, the media interviewed Sade and Femi. It was then that Sade and Femi told them the whole truth about the situation and after an aricle was published and their interview aired on T.V. their father was released from prison and they were reunited with him.

One theme that was most definetly present in this novel, is the importance of getting the truth across and standing up for it. This was taught to Sade and Femi for their father, who wrote articles about the wrong doings of the Nigerian government. It was this lesson that saved their father from being deported back to Nigeria, where he would have been killed. Sade and Femi were able to get the truth across to the English media, which was even aired on T.V. Not only did that free their father, but it also alerted the world about the atrocities committed by the Nigerian government.

I thought Beverly Naidoo did a great job writng this book and I would thus give this book a rating of 4.5 out of 5. This is due to the fact that it was a quick read and she did a great job of getting all her points across and told about the struggles of a Nigerian family to stand of for what is right, in a fascinating manner that made you want to keep reading on and on.

Week 7 Post A

Once again in this last section of reading their was a specific cultural difference shown between England and Nigeria.

The Nigerian government was increasing their effort to get a hold of Sade and Femi's father, who is known as Mr. Solaja. They found out that he was being held in prison in England and then they were asking for him to be returned to Nigeria, where he would be persecuted for killing his wife. Once again this shows the Nigerian government's recklessness in making Mr. Solaja pay for his work against the government. On the other hand the English government is trying to work things out with the Nigerian government and make sure their claims agains Sade and Femi's father are true.

Another cultural difference between Nigeria and England is the media and the amount of control the government has over it. In Nigeria the government has complete control over it and if you publish what ever you want, then you will find yourself in deep trouble, just like Sade and Femi's father. In England on the other hand their is more freedom of speech, in fact the reason Sade and Femi were finally reunited with their father again, was because of the english newspaper publishing an aritcle about the truth, and the false accusations from the Nigerian government.

Week 6 Post B

The children's lives are finally starting to improve, after all the tragedy they have faced. By chance Sade and Femi's social worker recognizes their description from their father who has entered England illegally and is being held for deportation. They are then reunited with their father in prison. It is a great feeling for Sade and Femi to know their father is alive, but it is frustrating to see him behind bars, for standing up for what is right. The Nigerian government has also contacted England, telling them that he murdered his wife. They are willing to do anything to make his life torture, just because he embarassed them and their egos by writing about the truth.

Although the children's lives aren't quite back to normal and never will be since their mom is dead, the author is foreshadowing them being "fully" reunited with their father. This is shown by them meeting their father, who is behind bars and I believe the author only has him appear behind bars, because it would make the story more interesting. Hopefully this prediction turns out to be true, because I would hate to read about a tragic ending.

Week 6 Post A

In this section of reading an obvious cultural difference, finally became obvious to me. In previous posts I had talked about how the Nigerian government is corrupt and different from many developed countries, and used the U.S. as an example. Beverly Naidoo does a good job of showing this, except uses England's government as an example.

In Nigeria the children had especially feared the Nigerian government, due to their father's involvement in writing the magazine that condemned the actions of the Nigerian government. As a result their mother was murdered, and they had to flee the country.

After arriving in the England, the couple that had smuggled the children into London abandoned the children and the children had to then turn to the English government for help. Unlike the Nigerian government, the children were taken care, which included setting them up with a foster home and enrolling them in school, which also showed England's superior education system.

Week 5 Post B

Sade and Femi keep getting bullied by their classmates at school, but they are doing exceptionally well in terms of their class work. This girl named Marcia is the leader of a group of girls, which are the ones who bully Sade the most. Sade finally finds a friend in a girl named Miriam, who is a refugee from Somalia. They stick together and help each other through the bullying tactics of Marcia and her gang. "Sade hung down her head, wainting. She was aware of the other students taking out their books and she ignored Mariam's nudgings to do the same" (136). This is an example of Marcia trying to get Sade to stand up to one of Marcia's sinister plans to embarass Sade in front of the whole class and the teacher.

It is also depressing to see Sade and Femi have to live in the foster home. Although they are under good care, they are away from their family so they have no way of contacting their father. Hopefully, the children will get a hold of Uncle Dele and then eventually be reunited with their father.

Week 5 Post A

There weren't really new cultural differences in this section of reading, there were just re-occuring differences, which I have already talked about. For example Sade is still getting bullied by her trouble-making classmates, yet she continues to study hard and succeed. "You reckoned I wasn't serious, right? Well, let me tell you, girl, I mean what I say. When I said no one was going to do that homework without my say-so, I was talking about YOU!{...}Whith a flourish Marcia ripped out the first two pages in Sade's book. YOU ar NO ONE. Get it? No one" (134). This is very unfortunate for Sade, especially since she is new to the city and it is bad enough to be that far away from home and it makes it much more difficult for her when her classmates not only don't accept her, but also terrorize and tease her. Hopefully, Sade will be able to keep her head up through all of it.

Week 4 Post B

This last section of reading was very intense, and depressing. The children's father was taking a risk by sending them to London with strangers that Uncle Tunde found in a desperate attempt to get the children safely out of the country. The people appeared to be pleasant and compassionate, when meeting Sade and Femi for the first time at the airport. However, looks can be deceiving, and in this case they were. It turned out that the only reason that they agreed to smuggle the children to London, wasn't because of their warm hearts towards their situation. The only reason they accepted the "deed" was due to the generous amount of money that Uncle Tunde paid for their efforts. When Sade and Femi arrived to the London airport to they were ditched by their caretakers. What I can't believe is how selfish and uncaring those people were, because all they had to do once they arrived in London was drop the children off at their Uncle's home.

The children are now under the care of a foster home and life will be a lot tougher. Hopefully somehow they will be able to find their uncle, but they can't let anyone know their true identity.