Beverley Naidoo addressed the IBBY AGM on Monday 11th June. Speaking about her forthcoming novel, Burn My Heart, Beverley reflected on the British inability to acknowledge the impact of its colonial past in Kenya. 'Where are the novels  for young people about this shameful period of our history?' she asked. 'Where do we teach about the impact of British Colonialism on the Africans whose land was taken from them while they fought in the First World War?'

Burn My Heart is a story about The Mau Mau - the name of a secret society that once struck terror into the hearts of British settlers in Kenya. An episode in history that ended in a State of Emergency, with violent and brutal acts dividing a nation. Itis an intensely personal and vivid story of two boys: one black, one white. Once they were friends even though their circumstances are very different. But in a country riven by fear and prejudice, even the best of friends can betray one another

This week , in The Times, Amanda Craig observed  that Africa is becoming a popular subject for children's writers.

Some recent titles

• Linzi Glass The Year the Gipsies Came
• Lauren St John The White Giraffe
• Jonathan and Shirley Tulloch I am a Cloud, I Can Blow Anywhere
• Beverley Birch Rift
• Sarah Mussi The Door of No Return
• David Gillman The Devil's Breath
• Julia Golding The Ringmaster