chapters 8-13

 “Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being.”110

Trevor was talking about how his stepfather Abel chose to marry his mom and how that changed their whole family. It made me think about how powerful it is when someone chooses to stay, to love, to take responsibility. It’s not about blood, it’s about loyalty. I started thinking about people in my life who didn’t have to be there for me, but still are, and how that kind of love can mean more than even family sometimes. It also made me wonder about the people we don’t choose, like family members who cause harm, do we owe them anything just because we share DNA?

“For all that black people have suffered, they know who they are. Colored people don’t.”116

 Trevor is talking about identity here, how Black South Africans, even with everything they’ve been through, still have a strong sense of who they are and where they come from. Colored people, though, are stuck in between. They don’t have that same clear cultural or historical foundation, and Trevor says they’re often left trying to fit in or prove themselves—sometimes by looking down on others.

Ill most likely pick exploring culture and food topic.

In chapter eight, Trevor learns more about his father, Robert, and how deeply he cared even though he wasn’t super present in Trevor’s life. His mom reminds him that Robert chose to be in his life, even when the law made it dangerous. Under apartheid, a white man having a child with a Black woman was literally illegal. That makes Robert’s love more powerful in a way—it wasn’t expected or forced, it was intentional. Trevor learns that his dad wasn’t cold or uncaring like he once thought. He just had to love him from a distance. That hit me because it shows how sometimes love looks different, especially when the world’s working against it. It made me wonder how many parents are misunderstood because of circumstances they can’t control.

This quote shows how the government kept people divided. In chapter nine, Trevor explains how the apartheid system didn’t just separate races, it turned them against each other. Indians were mad at Blacks, Blacks at coloreds, coloreds at whites, and so on. They were taught to blame each other instead of the system that was actually holding everyone down. Even worse, the rules for who counted as “white” or “colored” were random. One family member could be labeled white, while another wasn’t, just based on how they looked or how they acted. That’s so wild. It reminds me of how even today, society can keep people fighting each other over scraps instead of seeing the bigger picture. The system wins when people are divided.

In chapter nine, Trevor says “But I knew I’d done a terrible thing” (p. 125) after he causes a big scene in class by pretending not to speak any African languages to avoid being teased. He realizes he humiliated a kid in front of everyone just to protect himself. That guilt sticks with him. 

In chapter thirteen, Trevor gets caught shoplifting. The ironic twist is that the cops think his white friend is the ringleader, so Trevor gets let off easier. It’s a moment that shows how race worked in weird ways even in crime, Trevor avoided trouble because he wasn’t seen as a threat, just a sidekick. 

That quote on page 143 about regret hit hard. Trevor says the real fear isn’t failure, it’s not trying. I felt that. I’ve had moments where I didn’t speak up or take a chance and later I was stuck wondering what if. Regret doesn’t go away. It just lingers. That quote reminded me to act even if I’m scared, because silence hurts more in the long run.