Life is hard in Rhodenroode Island’s Mission on the Hill, but it’s all that 13-year-old Darian knows, beyond some vague memories of being brought there on a ship. He tries to live up to the ideals of the brothers in the Order of the Right Hand, but is curious about his origins, as the only boy with “deep brown skin” in the Mission community.
When boys start to go missing from the Mission, however, and its leader makes it clear he shouldn’t inquire, he begins to doubt what he’s being taught. When he and his friend Micah, who speaks in sign language, are accused of “intimate fraternization” and Micah decides to run away, Darian joins him.
After a close encounter with some village officers who want to return them to the mission, they are rescued by a girl named Zaide Odambo, whose skin is dark like Darian’s. She takes the boys to her own community on the island, where the boys’ understanding of their world is further shaken, even as Darian begins to better understand his own origins. But when Darian learns of a threat to the island, he feels compelled to try and rescue the boys remaining at the Mission, with the help of his new friends.
While the story explores some difficult and potentially triggering topics such as religious hypocrisy, colonization, and the relationship between the two, it also gives us plenty of adventure in a creatively imagined world, and weaves in a sweet, growing crush between Darian and Micah. The balance of action and deeper themes make it a recommended book with a lot of food for thought.
