Free As I Know

Beverley Naidoo

Currently out of print

Collins Education

Free As I Know is a multicultural collection of international extracts, short stories and poems about young people gaining insight into themselves and their society through challenging experiences. Both new and well-known authors have been selected to appeal to readers in their mid-teens. Settings cross place and time, from the 1920s to the future. The book is widely used as a source book for GCSE English and English Literature course work.

From the Introduction by Beverley Naidoo:

"Literature has the tremendous quality of allowing us to engage imaginatively in the lives of others. It enables us to move beyond ourselves and our own experiences. If we allow ourselves to respond to it fully, it can be a great educator. For those of us brought up monoculturally, literature which springs from outside our own boundaries can be a life-line."

Click here to view contents

"Anyone reading it must look at themselves, as well as the person beside them on the bus or behind the counter with newly opened eyes."
The Guardian, UK