Author(s): Candy Gourlay

Teen Fiction

A coming-of-age story set in a remote village in the Philippines, about growing up, discovering yourself and the impact of colonialism on native peoples and their lives. Samkad lives in a tribe deep in the Philippine jungle at the end of the nineteenth century, and has never encountered anyone from outside his own tribe before. He's about to become a man, and while he's desperate to grow up, he's worried that this will take him away from his best friend, Little Luki. However, Samkad's world is about to change utterly. A strange man with white skin arrives in his village, and Samkad discovers the brother he never knew he had. A brother who tells him of people called 'Americans'. Americans who are bringing war, and burning, to Samuel's home...