How far have we come?

How Far We’ve Come

Author: Joyce Efia Harmer @JoyceEfia

Publisher: Simon and Schuster @simonkids_UK

Published on: 25th May 2023

Price: £14.99

First line: When I’s running, me feel free.

Genre: fiction, contemporary, sci-fi

ISBN: 978 1 3985 1099 9

What’s it all about? A young girl, Obah (or Orrinda as her slave owners call her), lives on a plantation in Barbados in 1834. She dreams of her own escape and freedom for her friends and ‘family’. She wonders about her own real family and where they might be. The injustices of the time are just common place to her and she feels incapable of dealing with them. Until, in the woods, one day, she comes across a strange boy, a duppy? An undead? He leads her to a whole new time. Is the world different or not, has time solved the problems or just changed them? Obah wrestles with these thoughts as she balances life in two different times.

Why should I read it? This is quite frankly an amazing book. A unique idea, of a time traveller who gets to compare two different times to see if things have really got better over hundreds of years or not. I would like to think so. I have to say that I was put off a little at first because in the author’s note at the beginning, Mrs Harmer states that there is a side to British History that isn’t told in schools. I think great strides have been made in teaching about brilliant black voices from the past over the last 15/20 years. It would be fascinating to go forward another 200 years from today to see what the world and social justice are like. The characters are beautifully formed and Obah’s sense of discomfort, longing and fear are well described. I like how, through her experiences, she gradually becomes a force to be reckoned with, compared to the relatively and understandably meek person we meet at the beginning. Some of the circumstances and situations are truly eye-opening and sometimes discomforting to read about – how could life really have been like that for some people? However, there is definitely a positive sense of hope and belief running through the author’s note and the story itself. Hopefully, it does inspire some young people to take up the torch and fight for injustice in the future, as there is still more to do and we owe to all those, like Obah who started the fight so many years ago. This would be a great book to use in a Year 6 classroom, to promote discussion of racism, family and change, and to inspire children to put their best foot forward in life.

Thanks to Love Reading 4 Schools for the review copy.