Out of Shadows
"A unanimous winner... A stunning debut novel without a false note. Accomplished and powerful, it changes the way you think."
Costa winner, 2010
Zimbabwe, 1980s...
The war is over, independence has been won and Robert Mugabe has come to power offering hope, land and freedom to black Africans. It is the end of the Old Way and the start of a promising new era.
For Robert Jacklin, it's all new: new continent, new country, new school. And very quickly he is forced to understand a new way of thinking, because for some of his classmates the sound of guns is still loud, and their battles rage on… white boys who want their old country back, not this new black African government.
Boys like Ivan. Clever, cunning, wicked Ivan. For him, there is still one last battle to fight, and he's taking it right to the very top…
What people have been saying about Out of Shadows
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impossible to look away
Markus Zusak
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extraordinary... startlingly original
The Bookseller
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a children's classic
Daily Express
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gripping
The Times
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original...thought-provoking and ultimately shocking
Good Book Guide
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One of those rare, outstanding books
Browns Books for Students
What inspired Out of Shadows?
Jason Wallace talks about how Out of Shadows came about, ahead of the Costa Book Awards 2010
Awards
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Winner of the 2010 Costa Book Awards for children's fiction
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Winner of the 2011 Branford Boase Award
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Winner of the 2011 UKLA (UK Literary Association) Award
"If I stood you in front of a man, pressed the cold metal of a gun into your palm and told you to squeeze the trigger, would you do it?"
"No, Sir."
“Are you sure?”
"Of course, Sir. No ways!"
"What if I then told you we'd gone back in time and his name was Adolf Hitler? Would you do it then? Would you? Would you?"
