A good short read about a young girl's adventures in Boer War South Africa. ( )

Set during the Boer War, Coraline is now coping with the death of her father and the fact that the English could arrive any day now and steal her mother and brother's farm. In the end, she and her family flee into the African bush with her black friend Sipho's family. They are trying to make it to the laager - a group of wagons owned by Boers like themselves , who have banded together after being pushed off their land. Eventually Corli'e family catch up to the laager but are soon overun by English soldiers and sent to live in a prisoner of war camp that has terrible conditions. This is only after Coralie is separated from Sipho and his family , and Sipho is accused of using the cover of the battle to kill a Boer who was horrible to him. In the camp, Coralie must use every once of brain power to ensure that she, her mother and her two little brothers do not become malnourished from the poor rations and succumb to the illness and disease that is rife in the camp.

Heartbreaking and quite violent at times, this is a short historical account of a war that we hear little about in Australia. Like the My Story books only more gritty and therefore for older readers. ( )

I read this book in a day. The main character, a young girl named Corlie Roux from Africa during the Boer War, is a delight. Her father dies when she is young and she is growing up with a mother who doesn't seem to like her for some reason. They are forced our of their home by the British army and life in a wagon train situation in the outdoors. After they are taken from there by the soldiers, they are forced into a refuge camp where there is little food, room, and lots of sickness. Corlie finds herself fighting for her family-her mother who doesn't like her and her two younger brothers. When her brother Gert dies, Corlie's mother kicks her out of the home and Corlie discovers that she is not her father's biological. Through the kindness of a Canadian soldier, she has hope for a bright future. I loved Corlie as a character-she is strong and kind and resilient. I found myself wanting her to have better and be treated better. I would recommend this book to upper elementary or middle school age students looking for a book with a strong female character and adventure. ( )

A difficult look at warfare and family, Stones for My Father, by Trilby Kent, tells about the Anglo-Boer War through the eyes of a resilient 12-year-old girl called Corlie.

At the beginning of the book, Corlie's family consists of her mother and two younger brothers, Gert and Hansie. Her father has previously died of scrofula. The household also includes a "servant" family of Africans whose oldest son Sipho was "given" to Corlie as a "matie" when they were both infants. Sipho and Corlie are good friends. Corlie's mother and the other Boer families in the area are secretly helping the men of fighting age who are fighting the British "on commando."

This first-person narrator's view of slavery, the British "scorched-earth" policy, internment camps, and family trauma is a difficult story, with hope coming through a surprising friendship. I would recommend it for children ages 10+ with discussion.

(I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.) ( )

For a second time, the British are invading her beloved homeland in an attempt to control Africa’s gold mines, land, and its people. It’s 1899 and Tweede Vryheidsoorlog: The Second War of Liberation is about to change everything that twelve-year-old Corlie Roux knows and loves.

Corlie’s life will never be the same after her father’s death leaves her cold, cruel mother alone on the family farm to raise Corlie and her two brothers, Gert and Hansie. As soldiers sweep across the land salting the earth under the destroyed crops, burning homes, barns, and outbuildings and killing everything in their path, Corlie and her Mother know it’s only a matter of time before they too, suffer the same fate. All around them other Boer families, neighbours and friends are being burned out and rounded up as the British Army strives to take control.

A desperate attempt at escape is thwarted by brutal soldiers and the starving the family is forced into a filthy, poverty-stricken internment camp against their will. Despite her resilience, Corlie struggles to survive the abuse, starvation, and suffering knowing that something must change if she’s going to endure. A chance encounter with a Canadian soldier she met while foraging out on the veld may just turn out to be Corlie’s only hope to finally live her life without pain, suffering, and the horrors of war.

Author, Trilby Kent has delivered a clear-eyed, historically-significant view of life on the Transvaal during the Anglo-Boer War. An interesting subject; well-written, thought-provoking, and with just enough details to keep the reader engaged with the very relatable and resilient, Corlie. Highly-recommended! ( )