When the Ground is Hard by Malla Nunn is a beautiful story about friendship. You see both artificial relationships that end for the most ridiculous reasons as well as true, long-lasting friendships that are bound to survive many challenges. With her beautifully descriptive language, Nunn transports us to a boarding school in Swaziland where life is easy for some and difficult for many. She addresses racism at its ugliest and shows how rough life can be. The story is also about learning what is truly important in life and realizing what things don’t really matter even when they used to. You will likely learn to appreciate many things that you previously took for granted after reading this book. The story was a truly enjoyable read and you’ll look forward to finding snippets of time to sneak in a page or two just as main character, Adele, does in her reading of Jayne Eyre. Those who enjoy a coming-of-age story with a great moral lesson or two will love When the Ground is Hard.

Review of an Advance Reader’s Copy

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation; 2 mild obscenities; 1 f-word derivative. 

Violence/Gore:  Many (34) brief incidents including father joking about needing a gun to fend off boys for beautiful daughter; character praying that someone would die other than her; character could get hurt by an animal; character is nearly eaten by an animal; character wants another dead; several references to character getting hit by teacher on knuckle with ruler; references to children fighting; several references to characters dying; character has a black eye; a few incidents of children fighting; characters get hit by teacher with ruler as discipline; cow killed in car accident and driver injured; fire caused by lightning and young characters get hurt and some nearly die from fighting it; reference to young boys killing a chicken; character falls down a hill and gets hurt; many references to ghosts.

Sex/Nudity: Several (14) brief incidents, mostly involving young characters, including flirting; teacher touching student’s shoulder; young character receives a postcard with a picture of a topless girl; female teacher requires girls to lift skirts to ensure that their underwear are clean; reference to loose women and tramps; boy says dirty things to girls; innuendo; character implies that another is homosexual; character calls another a slut; reference to pictures of male genitalia drawn in books; mention of pictures drawn by young boys of nude women; character insinuates that another will be a prostitute; boys wishing girls’ skirts will blow up and one grabs at a girl’s skirt; implied sex between adult teacher and student.

Mature Subject Matter:

References to poverty; racism; adult teacher having sexual relations with a student; references to infidelity; stealing; reference to possibly getting kidnapped or attacked.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Reference to drunks; references to adults drinking alcohol; young girls smoke cigarettes; reference to young boys drinking beer.