WEB OF LIES

Still negotiating their refugee status in England, Femi and Sade find that the arrival of their father hasn’t solved all their problems in this sequel to The Other Side of Truth (2001). While Sade’s voice previously held sway, now it is Femi’s turn. Inveigled into helping shoplifters, smoking pot and spending time with the pushers as a member of their troop, Femi finds that being safer from political persecution in England than in Nigeria isn’t everything he needs to survive. Sade, preoccupied with worrying that a woman from Sierra Leone is replacing her deceased mother, remains unaware of Femi’s increasing criminal activity as Femi’s talent at cover-up emerges. Understanding much of the cast and the situation depends on knowing the first book, which won the Jane Addams Book Award, but as Kemi pulls the whole family toward peril, the same taut suspense will satisfy previous readers. The cultural content is less this time around, but continues especially in the diary entries addressed to Iyawo, a sculpture that embodies home and reminds Sade of her mother. (Fiction. YA)