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. He shows Paula the necklace of lion claws and leather pouch of African earth that has been handed down to him by his father and grandfather, symbols of his new position as leader of the Hausas on Biggs Farms. Even though everyone at Porter-Gaud accepts that Zaki and Paula are a couple, by the end of their high school years, they still had not had a formal date. Thomas Biggs wills Zaki his vast family fortune