If Not This Dream. Book Two : Zaki 12+

📙 IF NOT THIS DREAM is an 1134-page fast-paced novel, presented in three books. Five generations after the death of Zaki I, his namesake Zaki II begins his quest to fulfill his ancestor's dream. The pureblooded Hausa-American thrives under the passionate mentoring hands of Thomas Biggs, the last of the white family that brought the original patriarch out of Africa into slavery on their plantation twenty-five miles northeast of Charleston, South Carolina. Biggs' subconscious desire to erase the evils of his family turns into genuine love of the African-American boy he supports. Biggs enrolls Zaki in Porter-Gaud School, a K-12 private preparatory school in Charleston. Zaki quickly becomes a best friend of Paula Walton, a white senator's daughter. Their relationship quickly creates tension in the Walton family, especially when they reach high school age. Zaki becomes a high school football sensation, drawing attention from all the big colleges in the country. Paula joins the rally squad. A local newspaper maintains a special section to keep track of Zaki's statistics as he attempts to become the greatest football player in Porter-Gaud history. To create balance in his life, Biggs develops Zaki into a virtuoso classical pianist. Paula becomes a prima ballerina. Along with other Porter-Gaud students, Zaki and Paula perform for huge audiences in Charleston. Zaki learns to sail Thomas Biggs' 134-foot, two-masted yacht Santee. He sails into the open ocean with Paula...