Now Is the Time for Running

Williams, M. (2011). Now is the time for running. New York: Little, Brown, and Company. This hard-hitting and heart-wrenching story describes the brutality of a government run amok in Zimbabwe. Deo, 15, and his older brother Innocent enjoy the pleasures of life in their village and pass the time with soccer. Deo loves playing the sport while Innocent loves to cheer his brother on. Although Deo is the younger brother, he must watch out for Innocent since the older brother has fits and sometimes becomes angry when the batteries on his radio die. But as the book opens, soldiers representing the government come to the village. As punishment for the results of a recent election and to root out dissidents, they confiscate all the villagers' food. Deo's mother has contacted a church in America which has sent a supply truck filled with nutritious items, which are also confiscated. The soldiers then systematically shoot every single villager. Only by luck do Deo and Innocent escape the bloodbath. With them go a leather pouch that becomes a soccer ball when stuffed with plastic and a Bix-box containing Innocent's treasured objects. The brothers head to town for help, but there is unrest in town as well. A kindly family friend provides money and transportation, and they make their way to the border of South Africa. From there, they manage to hire someone to help them cross a river where just as much danger lies on the river's shores as in the river, and race across a nature preserve to the country's border. the journey is harrowing, and the brothers are in danger for much of the way. After they have settled into a safe routine on a tomato farm, another worker persuades them that there is a better life in the city. But the city's promises turn out to be false, and they stumble upon some men and women who have taken refuge inside a bridge. When the town's attitude toward the ever-growing number of refugees turns hostile, tragedy ensues when the brothers are separated. Deo spirals into a depression that lasts several months and during which he passes the time and erases his memories by sniffing glue and living on the street. A soccer coach happens to see him kicking a soccer ball that falls from his truck invites him to try out for a street soccer team he is assembling. Deo must decide whether to take the hope being offered to him. An Author's Note and information on the actual xenophobia at the heart of the book and Homeless World Cup that inspired the story add to its poignancy.
Favorite Lines:
"I have no time for this stupid talk. The stars will fall from the sky before the soldiers give us food" (p. 22).

"I don't feel the hands trying to stop me from going to Innocent, but somehow I reach the body of my brother, facedown on the ground, covered with rubble" (p. 169).