Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn
Set in the shanty towns of Durban, South Africa, and featuring a biracial protagonist, Malla Nunn’s second novel explores identity and belonging with a loving eye.
Fifteen-year-old Amandla has been brought up by her eccentric white mother in a shanty town called Sugar Town. Her mum has severe memory loss, often behaving strangely both in public and at home. Amandla doesn’t know who her father is and has no other family – or so she thinks. By chance one day, she discovers an address and some cash in the bottom of her mother’s handbag. This sends her on a journey where she reunites with her grandmother and relatives she never even knew about, some of whom would prefer it to remain that way.
Meanwhile, in Sugar Town, Amandla is expanding her friendship group and takes a fancy to Lewis, a beautiful Zulu boy from the neighbourhood. But another boy, a meth-addicted gang member, is pursuing her and making her feel very uncomfortable. Amandla must come to rely on her friends and neighbours for help when things go wrong.
Despite the challenges in Amandla’s life, this is a compassionate, positive novel about the importance of family and community. The writing is authentic and confident, taking you deep into the world of the protagonist. It is a beautiful coming-of- age story that explores the difficulties of being biracial and confronting racism. It will be enjoyed by readers ages 13+.
