He was 5 and believed he could fly, so he jumped from a cliff near his home, using a towel as a wing.
That was 12 years ago and mixed-race Jewel (her dad and Grandpa are Jamaican) live in a small town in Iowa.
Jewel is surprised on the night of her 12th birthday to find a stranger in her special tree, an oak growing in her neighbour's field.
He says he is adopted and that his name is John, and they talk for a while.
Later they become firm friends but when Jewel takes him home to meet her family, Grandpa hits him, believing him to be a duppy, a Jamaican evil spirit.
This first novel by Crystal Chan is a well-told story of family, love and fear: the fear of facing events of the past. Ages 12+.
- René Nol is a Dunedin reader.
