Zulu Dog

Publishers Weekly

Journalist Ferreira's somewhat awkward yet timely first novel centers on 11-year-old Vusi Ngugu, who lives with his extended Zulu family in post-apartheid South Africa. His kin's subsistence lifestyle contrasts dramatically with the privileged existence of the nearby white farmers. One day, Vusi, accompanied by Gillette, the dog he has adopted, ventures onto the land owned by one of the white farmers, "to prove to himself that he is not scared." There he meets 12-year-old Shirley, the farmer's daughter, and the two bond immediately, despite the fact that neither speaks the other's language. The strongest passages center on Vusi and his family, especially Vusi's discovery of Gillette as a pup and their blossoming relationship. Except for a progressive-thinking farmer, Robert Rudolph, many of the sections focusing on white characters become stilted (e.g., "When Shirley gets home that day, she is torn between excitement at the encounter [with Vusi], the fun they had communicating across the language barrier, and trepidation at what her parents would say about a black stranger trespassing on the farm"). Rather forced dialogue from Shirley's father and some of his cronies underscores their bigotry. But the narrative also reveals the economic, social and cultural ramifications of the democratic government under Mandela. Even with the rather heavy-handed message, likable Vusi's coming-of-age tale delivers some affecting scenes and, for readers unfamiliar with South African politics, some eye-opening realities. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

VOYA

This book is the story of postapartheid South Africa and a dog that helps reconcile racial and cultural differences between neighbors. Normally I have not enjoyed dog stories, but the interesting setting made this book satisfying. Supplemental material provides readers with the history and social context of the novel. On the other hand, Ferreira could have spent more time developing characters and making dialogue less forced. Animal lovers and those interested in recent history will like this book. Glossary. Map. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, Farrar Straus Giroux, 208p,
— Theodora Ranelli, Teen Reviewer

School Library Journal

Gr 4-6-The setting for this story of a boy and his love for his dog is newly independent South Africa with all of its racial prejudice and poverty. Vusi, 11, needs a friend and finds two most unlikely ones-a three-legged dog he names Gillette because his sharp teeth remind him of his father's razor, and Shirley Montgomery, a white girl. Vusi comes from a very poor black family, and his mother makes it clear that there is no spare food for a dog, so he hides his pet. When Shirley runs away to protest her parents' decision to send her to boarding school, all of the neighbors search for her, but it is the dog that finds her, injured and frightened. In somewhat of a fairy-tale ending, Shirley's previously racist father now accepts her black friend, employs the boy's parents, and allows the family to live on his land. Shirley is allowed to remain at home, and the much-needed rains finally come. Still, Ferreira presents an authentic picture of the chasm between the haves and the have-nots. Contrivances aside, readers will enjoy the exciting adventure as Vusi goes on his first hunt with Gillette, a rite of passage in his culture.-Dorothy N. Bowen, Eastern Kentucky University, Richmond Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Two children and a dog offer a tentative hope for a strife-ridden, modern South Africa in this debut from Ferreira, a Reuters correspondent who grew up there. Eleven-year-old Vusi is Zulu. His life revolves around Gillette, the three-legged pup he has reared and trained in secret, hoping that despite his handicap the dog will become a true Zulu hunting dog. Twelve-year-old Shirley is English. She loves the sprawling farm she has grown up on and despairs at her father's determination to send her to a boarding school instead of the newly desegregated local school. They meet in the bush and become fast-and very secret-friends. The present-tense narrative moves back and forth between the two children's perspectives, occasionally broadening to include Vusi's father, a beleaguered taxi driver whose livelihood is threatened by gangs; Shirley's father, a dyed-in-the-wool racist who is less than happy with the post-apartheid era; and Robert Rudolph, a miraculously enlightened white farmer. Vusi is a meticulously drawn character, whose single-minded adoration of his dog is universal, but whose beliefs and concerns are uniquely Zulu. The land-loving Shirley is almost as well drawn; her maturing perspective causes her to question the truths that have sustained her since birth. The white secondary characters are less well developed: Shirley's father is almost wholly despicable, Rudolph almost saintly in his willingness to find a path to peace. The inevitable clash between European and Zulu occurs, and just as inevitably, enormously improbably, and highly satisfactorily, Gillette saves the day, making possible a rapprochement. If the plotting and character development are not always as smooth as theyshould be, the narrative nevertheless offers glorious description of, as well as a valuable insight into, a part of the world that probably has never hit the radar screen of most young readers. A historical note precedes the story, contextualizing the tensions presented within. (Fiction. 10-14)