ANI

In the early 1950's ten year old Tani leaves her Iban village in Sarawak, part of present-day Malaysia, to attend a mission school. Her reactions to the strange nw way of life at the school and its head mistress, a dedicated but unsympathetic woman, are well told. The native life and customs and the effect of the encroaching modern world form integral parts of the story. Mrs. Mark lived in the area about which she writes and the experience in the mission school is derived from her own participation in missionary activities. Although the story occasionally suffers from contrivance, the book does present a sympathetic picture of Malaysian life for the young reader and its attention to customs and attitudes should make it a useful book for schools and libraries.