"It is not often that a novel is so eloquently written that it subtly intermingles historical facts with a moving story line, but The Year the Gypsies Came by Linzi Glass does it in a whole new way. Set in South Africa, the story revolves around young Emily. Emily's whole world is barely held together but through visits from strangers the bare threads manage not to snap apart. Her parents' marriage has been on the rocks but to the public and servants they attempt to build up a fa軋de of contentment. Emily and her older sister Sarah are extremely close to each other. Their shaky home life drastically changes when the Gypsies come. Emily finds a new friend and Sarah finds a living shadow. Something, however, is not quite right about the Gypsies. After the events of one night everything begins to fall to pieces and the string that held together the family begins to unravel. The Gypsies suddenly leave and Emily's life as she knew it falls apart when one of the key threads dies. Taking place during apartheid, the scenes in the novel bring the reader right to where Emily is; whether lying in the grass on the lawn, at the jail or sitting by Buza, the old Zulu watchman, hearing tales. This book tells a tale so gripping that you will become immersed and emotional as if you were there. Once you finish reading this novel you appreciate once again how lucky you are to be in the 21st century and in a safe, happy home."
 

Janna Weaver,
16 (I'll be 17 in less than a month!)