This simple tale of a goat-herding young girl who wants to go to school is as heartwarming as it is heartbreaking. When a 20-something school teacher from Cape Town is posted to rural Riemvasmaak in the Kalahari, she encounters an uneducated but talented little girl whose life she is determined to turn around. In her battle to teach the intellectually-starved Meisie, the teacher must convince a skeptical and hardened parent. Her daily journey to the talented young girl mirrors the journey of young Meisie herself: a search for intellectual freedom and a fulfilling new life.—Morgan Naido