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HOPE IS OUR ONLY WING by Rutendo Tavengerwei Kirkus Star

HOPE IS OUR ONLY WING

by Rutendo Tavengerwei

Pub Date: Sept. 10th, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64129-072-2
Publisher: Soho Teen

Following the tragic and mysterious death of her journalist father while on an investigative trip to the family’s homeland of Zimbabwe, 15-year-old Shamiso and her mother leave England.

Returning to the country she left at age 5 is disorienting for Shamiso—she doesn’t even remember her paternal grandmother. She unsuccessfully tries to keep her grief and anger under wraps, bound up in resentment over being in this place that is now home. At her new boarding school, Shamiso initially seeks to keep to herself, but Tanyaradzwa, another student, who has her own reasons for deep sadness, extends an offer of friendship that Shamiso initially rebuffs, although later the girls become close companions. Inspired by actual events from 2008 Zimbabwe, debut author Tavengerwei masterfully knits together a literary quilt with prose that evokes heartbreaking and hopeful truths. Mainly portraying events from a teenager’s perspective, readers also learn about the political and economic downfall of a once prosperous country. Filled with tales of struggle, sacrifice, corruption, and resilience, the novel showcases a cast of characters whose formidable spirits in the face of life-threatening crises take readers on a roller-coaster ride of emotions via a gripping page-turner.

A narrative of courage and optimism in the face of loss, this novel is brilliant storytelling.

(glossary) (Fiction. 14-adult)