Roots and Wings: Growing Up in South African Apartheid by Shoshana Kobrin captures the essence of apartheid South Africa – and racial injustice anywhere – in a collection of short stories. They are infused with the flavor of the South African landscape; its majestic mountains, the dry, dust Highveld, the untamed beauty of the bush with its animal, bird, and reptile inhabitants. This is set against the backdrop of Johannesburg with its gold mine tailings, impoverished black ghettos, and the luxurious living style of the white residents. The stories reflect a coming of age of the characters as well as their ability to connect with others of a different race and culture. The themes vary widely; encounters with wild monkeys and elephants, the attachment of a mother to her small daughter on safari, a young boy stranded in the Karroo semi-desert, a woman’s poignant return to the house where she grew up, a dog attack on a remote Transvaal farm, and a white college student’s epiphany when confronted with her black maid’s anguish. The source of each story is an incident from Kobrin’s past. This is fleshed out by considerable research, as well as her psychological insight into her characters from her experience as a psychotherapist. Kobrin was born, grew up, and taught multi-cultural communication courses in apartheid South Africa. She tells these stories with an insider’s view of that conflicted and oppressive period of South African history.