This Issue’s Book Looking at a notable book and a li�le about its author It’s March 2020 and Liza, her husband and two teenage children are at home in Auckland in level-four lockdown due to Covid-19. Reflec�ons with her family around the dining table inspire Liza to reflect on another challenging �me in history ― nearly forty years before ― when the South African rugby team toured New Zealand. Cas�ng her memory back to 1981, Liza recalls her life as a fi�een-year-old, including her first love, friendships, first-hand experiences of racism, and what it means ― and what it costs ― to find your voice and use it. In Our Own Backyard is a startling, confron�ng portrait of a society divided. Anne Kayes has wri�en a masterful YA novel that considers ques�ons of human equality that are as per�nent in the twenty-first century as they were in 1981
This well-researched complex New Zealand novel draws you into to the story of Liza and her family and diverse range of friends, both now, during lockdown for Covid-19 and back in 1981 when she was a teenager and the South African rugby tour was on. The depic�on of what happened in 1981 is stunningly accurate and the �e in between then and now is comfortably handled. The story’s complexity is the travelling back and forth, the some�mes unwri�en comparisons between ‘then and now’ and the emo�onal life of a teenager coming to terms with herself and her feelings. Mul�ple topics and themes are covered, amongst them, racism, feminism, teenage interac�ons, these are all skillfully woven into this gripping storyline. Anne Kayes foray into Young Adult wri�ng is exci�ng, well wri�en and delivered in a book which is difficult to put down.
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Good Teacher Magazine Issue 2 2021
97
