Powers, J. L.: This Thing Called the Future.(Young adult review)(Brief article)(Book review)

POWERS, J. L. This Thing Called the Future. 207p. glossary. CIP. Cinco Puntos. 2011. Tr $16.95. ISBN 978-1-933693-95-8. LC number unavailable.

Gr 9 Up--Khosi, a 14-year-old living in post-apartheid South Africa, is torn between her grandmother's superstitious beliefs in witches and sangomas (healers) and her mother's Western belief in science and medicine. She lives in a shantytown in Pietermaritzburg with Gogo and her younger sister while their mother works in another city and comes home on the weekends. At school, Khosi earns top marks in biology, but she wonders how she can balance science, Zulu ancestral beliefs, and religion (the family is Catholic) when they seem to …