The themes of this book are the brutality of apartheid and the power of education. Mathabane is a black person born in South Africa during apartheid, and, during his childhood, he experiences extreme poverty, police brutality, and limited opportunities as a result of the racist ideology of apartheid. His parents, who are both from tribal reserves but who live in a ghetto called Alexandra, cannot get the right permits to get good jobs. They also don't have the benefit of an education because they are poor and black. Mathabane manages to prevail against overwhelming odds to get an education and go to an American college on a tennis scholarship; however, most of the black people around him face lives of extremely limited opportunity because of apartheid.
