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UNDER WATER

J.L. Powers

Book 2 in the Zulu Girl series

A sequel to Powers' award-winning This Thing Called the Future, Under Water picks up 3 years later. When her beloved grandmother dies, 17-year-old Khosi must learn to survive on her own. She has to take care of her little sister Zi, make a living as a traditional healer, and somehow try, despite everything, to finish school. When her beloved Imbali - an urban township in South Africa - flares up in violence, Khosi finds herself at the center of the storm. A taxi war threatens the safety of every person in Imbali, including Khosi's best friend and boyfriend Little Man. A murdered man is dumped on her doorstep. And accusations of witchcraft swirl around her, despite her every effort to keep her healing practice aboveboard. When Little Man chooses the wrong path, Khosi finds herself caught up in a new romance. But her past just might catch up to her.

Third concluding novel of the trilogy expected for 2020.
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Published 2019-01-01 by Cinco Puntos Press

Comments

[...]This intriguing story is set against a backdrop of social upheaval due to economic discontent in contemporary, multicultural South Africa. This slowly building novel avoids stereotype, offering a captivating narrative with nuanced perceptions of death, love, and cathartic self-discovery. Kirkus Reviews

[...] The South African setting is especially strong, with Zulu words mixed in among the English (a glossary is appended), while the blend of Catholicism, traditional beliefs, and Western scientific thought found in township life allows readers to sample the particular flavor of Khosi's culture. The way communities deteriorate without enough resources is compellingly sketched, but the treasures at the heart of this story are Khosi's relationships - with her sister, whom she would do anything to protect; and with the ancestors, whose interference in her life is at times helpful, at times exasperating. Horn Books