During the terrifying years of Apartheid in South Africa, Shelley Davidow’s family was a crime. At a time when it was illegal for black and white people to live together, Shelley’s social activist parents took in Rosie, an abandoned black three-year-old. Rosie grew up as a beloved daughter and sister in a white household. Against the backdrop of racist laws and ever-present threats of violence, Shelley’s parents did all they could to provide a safe, happy home for their five children. But when Rosie was sixteen, devastating truths came to light, shattering the family’s understanding of the past.

… an outbreak of education riots exploded in the townships. Black children and teens protested their lot. During the early 1980s, they had to contend with underqualified teachers (some Bantu Education teachers only had the equivalent of Grade Ten), a limited curriculum, crowded classrooms with 60 to 100 children in a room. Beatings and intimidation by teachers and principals were the only form of behaviour management for thousands of youngsters. Everything that came courtesy of the Apartheid regime insisted that these children stay in positions as ‘hewers of wood and drawers of water’.

While the Fairvale students learned three foreign languages and strolled across well-kept grounds in the northern suburbs, the army moved into classrooms in Alexandra and Soweto. Teachers taught with armed soldiers in their rooms. Discipline now maintained through the barrels of guns. (p.27)

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