Web of Lies

Femi is in trouble.

He's gotten involved with a gang of older boys and is telling so many lies to his family, he can hardly keep his head straight. His sister, Sade, knows something is going on, but she doesn't want to worry their father while he's waiting to hear if the family will be granted asylum in Britain. But with Femi growing more and more involved with the criminal gang, how long will any of them be safe?

In this sequel to Carnegie Medal winner The Other Side of Truth, acclaimed author Beverley Naidoo once again tells the story of Nigerian refugees Femi and Sade. With unflinching realism, she presents the dangers the siblings face — not in Africa this time, but in a school very much like one of our own.

Publishers Weekly

Having fled Nigeria in The Other Side of Truth (in a starred review, PW called it a "sophisticated and emotional novel, poignant and accessible"), Sade and Femi now come up against new challenges in London, where they await being granted asylum in Beverley Naidoo's Web of Lies. Femi has been drafted into a gang of older boys, and Sade does not want to worry her father. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Beverley Naidoo grew up in South Africa under apartheid. She says: "As a white child I didn't question the terrible injustices until I was a student. I decided then that unless I joined the resistance, I was part of the problem." Beverley Naidoo was detained without trial when she was twenty-one and later went into exile in Britain, where she has since lived.

Her first children's book, Journey to Jo'burg, was banned in South Africa until 1991, but it was an eye-opener for thousands of readers worldwide. Her characters in Chain of Fire, No Turning Back, and Out of Bounds face extraordinary challenges in a society she describes as "more dangerous than any fantasy." She has won many awards for her writing, including the Carnegie Medal, the Jane Addams Book Award, and the American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults for The Other Side of Truth, about two refugee children smuggled to London who are also featured in Web of Lies.