PLAYING A DANGEROUS GAME

Four young friends help expose local criminals in this mystery set in 1970s Nairobi.

Lumush is starting at a new, fancier school, thanks to his father’s promotion. While adjusting to this new environment, where he is looked down upon by most, he spends his time after school trying to convince his friends from the neighborhood and his old school that he’s not changing. He and his friends Odush, Dado, and Mose hang out at an old, abandoned car, occasionally poking around a house people say is haunted by a White family that mysteriously died there. One day the boys find an old journal in the car, reading in it implications that a crime may have been committed that bears a striking resemblance to the deaths of the White family. The friends disagree over what to do with the information, but when strange things happen around town, they become more and more involved in trying to uncover the criminals until they finally reach a point of no return. Lumush is a sympathetic protagonist with believable, layered relationships with his family, teachers, and friends, and the setting is richly described. The realism of his world helps ground readers for an enjoyable ride despite uneven pacing, the less-believable element of the crime ring, and some thinly drawn supporting characters.

An entertaining picture of a boy’s life between social classes.