The Boy Next Door

In a war torn country full of dictators and revolutionaries a story of struggle for love, life and understanding through the eyes of a young colored girl.  A powerful story that will make you think, the story of Lindwe and beautiful young girl who is trying to make it against all odds.  A girl who is in the newly formed Zimbabwe is struggling to find her place; she is in a new school alone, with people who look down on her.   She finds solace with the boy next door, a boy who is been charged with a horrible crime and a new friend Bridgette.   But how can she be friends with a white man, its forbidden by her parents and frowned upon by society.

This story touches you with the struggles of a newly formed country and the struggles of the people within the country.  It shows you that all families have issues that are similar no matter what nationality you may be.   This is the life of Lindwe a daughter of a war veteran whose life is turned upside down when she begins a friendship and life that she never expected.  You see what its like being a young fair skinned colored women in Africa, what she goes through and how she overcomes.

For the very first book of Irene Sabatini I am impressed, although this book started a little slow it quickly picks up pace and is a great read.  You feel the emotions of the families and the hardships that fell upon them, you see through their eyes the emotion of the people and the struggles that they felt with the new country and new government.  Being introduced to the hardship of the people you feel the compassion of a country that has been torn apart, but you see the hopes and dreams of a country they feel they can rebuild.  I would recommend this book to any reader who wants to see what it is like to truly struggle in life and who wants to see that no matter how hard the struggle may be you can always overcome.