The Syringa Tree — Pamela Gien

Lively and inquisitive, six-year-old Elizabeth Grace, a privileged child, bears witness to the terror and inhumanity that paralyze South Africa under apartheid in the 1960s. Lizzie's closest ally and greatest love is her Xhosa nanny, Salamina--but their fierce devotion is complicated by stresses in the Grace family, by the violence, injustice, and intoxicating beauty of the country, and by a secret that must never be revealed. To soothe her worries, Lizzie escapes into the sheltering arms of the lilac-blooming syringa tree growing behind the family's suburban Johannesburg home. As the contagious spirit of change sends those once underground into the streets to challenge the ruling authority, this national unrest inspires a personal climax. The unthinkable occurs, and Lizzie's view of the world is forever changed.