Orange for the Sunsets

Booklist, 02/28/2019
Grades 3-7 - Asha and Yesofu are best friends, despite the fact that the wealthy Asha is Indian and Yesofu is African. Asha isn’t always aware of her privilege, but Yesofu is all too conscious of the inequalities between Indians and Africans in Uganda. Things get exponentially more complicated when Idi Amin announces that all of the Indians in Uganda must leave. At first, Yesofu supports Amin’s plan, seeing in it the potential of a brighter future for his family. But when both Yesofu and Asha see the violent reality of the expulsion, everything they used to think shatters. Told in alternating perspectives, Athaide, who was born in Uganda and lived there until her family left just before the expulsion, excellently captures how Amin’s plan affected individuals in complex and heart-wrenching ways. It also portrays how the development of an “us versus them” mentality can be swift and brutal, with no easy solutions for peace. A moving story about the power and limits of friendship.