Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: squatter camp, Uncle Richard, Meneer Venter, Uncle Max (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-This powerful collection takes readers on a sometimes harrowing journey through the nightmare that was apartheid South Africa. The stories take place at various times between 1948, the year that marks the beginning of apartheid, through 2000. The main characters, who come from different ethnic and economic groups, are all children, and Naidoo's reliance on a child's perspective ensures that the material remains emotionally manageable. The author's touch is deft and sure, as she captures the ordinary details of life, along with the racism displayed in the speech and attitudes of white South Africans. In one of the most wrenching stories, "The Noose," a boy of mixed race relates how on his birthday his father was reclassified "African," thus imperiling not only his job, but even his ability to live with his family. Other stories tell of the white daughter of politically progressive parents who is trying to negotiate the racist world of her friend's parents, and a black African girl whose grandmother is drawn into helping her activist granddaughter during the Soweto uprising of 1976. The final story, about a middle-class boy of Indian descent who comes to feel a connection to a child living in a neighboring squatter settlement, leaves readers with the hope that human kindness will eventually triumph over the divisions among people. A time line of apartheid laws linked to the stories helps to establish the social and political context. As well as enriching any study of Southern Africa or human rights, Out of Bounds will be embraced by children seeking to expand their understanding of the world and other people.
Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 6-10. Each of these short stories, set in a different decade in South Africa, from the 1950s onward, personalizes the political oppression and struggle from the viewpoint of a child. What was it like to be a "Coloured" (mixed-race) child under apartheid and be separated from your father when he was reclassified as black? To be a white boy shunned at school because your "Commie" parents have "native" friends? To hear your mother ordered around and called "girl" by her white employer? Or to be one of the first black students in an all-white school that doesn't want you? More docudrama than fiction, this book doesn't have the depth and complexity of Naidoo's The Other Side of Truth (2001), but Naidoo knows her country's history--the crude, ignorant racism, the suffering, the courage--and her diverse young viewpoints bring the politics of oppression and struggle into daily life. This will be an invaluable starting point for group discussion about contemporary South African history, especially when read with the introductory historical overview and the endnotes about each decade. Archbishop Tutu's moving foreword speaks of the incredible absence of revenge and retribution in the new South Africa, and many of these stories show that hope lies in personal connections. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (June 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060508019
• ISBN-13: 978-0060508012
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #388,724 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Out of Bounds, April 7, 2009

By	Shel Julian Kessel "SJ Kessel" (Columbus, Oh) - See all my reviews

Naidoo, B. (2001). Out of Bounds: Seven stories of conflict and hope. London: Puffin Books.

9780060508012

Organized chronologically, these seven short stories explore different events and conditions of Apartheid through South African children's perspectives. With varying degrees of hope, the protagonists face difficult choices and risk when deciding on what they believe about Apartheid depending on their various class and racial backgrounds. By remaining focused on issues among family members, friends and school all of the stories remain child-centric. Despite this, students may have some difficulty understanding the historical contexts of the stories (despite the presence of a timeline at the end) without the assistance of a teacher.

While Naidoo provides a complicated and emotionally striking view of apartheid, one perspective is missing--that of someone who supported the laws. While a few secondary characters in several of the stories are supporters, most of them are placed in the roles of villains. I think showing the justifications that those in power tend to make to maintain their power would have been a complicating view to trigger discussion and a challenge to Naidoo as a writer.

Activities to do with the book:

After going through the stories him or herself, a teacher could decide to read one or two aloud to children. (My personal recommendation is to start with "The Playground" since it is closest to the experience of school desegregation in the United States and could provoke more immediate conversation)

This book would be good to use alongside lessons on the history and evolution of Apartheid.

Students could also create drawings in response to some of the images and scenes described in the book, or could examine American art for comparable images. (A good starting point would be Norman Rockwell's "A Problem We All Live With")


Favorite Quotes:

"The oppressors opened their prison doors and sat down with those they had oppressed...people they had locked behind bars for years or driven out of the country. They exchanged words instead of bullets" (xiii, introduction).

"The year I turned ten, apartheid gripped me fully by the throat for the first time. Of course its fingers had been there all along, but I had been too busy to take much notice" (p. 18).

"When I was six, policemen snatched Daddy away in the middle of the night. They came to our house with banging, thumping, and shouting. Their flashlights swooped over the garden through the dark" (p. 50).

For more of my reviews, visit sjkessel.blogspot.com.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful stories!, June 4, 2008

By	Doc Hoc (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Out of Bounds: Seven Stories of Conflict and Hope (Jane Addams Award Book (Awards)) (Hardcover)

The stories included in this compilation are very powerful. The authors have captured the feelings of those involved in apartied throughout history.