to earn money to send them to school as well as to provide food and clothes. Once, some time ago, Naledi asked why she and Tiro could not live with Mama in Johannesburg. Mama said, “The white people who make the laws don’t allow it.” Another baby has died in the village and Naledi knows that her little sister Dineo might die too. But what can she do? Their grandmother has no money and there are no doctors in their village. So Naledi makes up her mind. She will have to get Mma who works more than 300 kilometres away in Johannesburg. The only way to let her know was to get to the big road and walk. So Naledi and her brother Tiro did just that…

Banned by the apartheid government in South Africa, this is the story of two children’s courage and determination to find their mother and bring her home.I found this book humbling and heartwarming. It is written from the viewpoint of two young children in South Africa who struggle to understand the injustice they and their families face. When their baby sister falls gravely ill they courageously decide to travel 300km from their small village to Johannesburg to summon their mother from work. The physical journey is symbolic of their awakening to the wider realities of apartheid; they face danger and experience prejudice, but also meet kind strangers who help to keep them safe and tell them stories about the uprising of students in Soweto. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2021-02-09 11:01:29 Associated-names Joyner, Jane Boxid IA40058521 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier If you have read The Help, this is an equivalent book for children. The period is South Africa's apartheid years, and while I'm rating four for writing, I'm rating another star for the depiction of tendencies towards popular activism and bringing about change. I also like that there is a simple map. After going with a friend to a restaurant in Frankfurt, even though it was raining like crazy, it did not stop me from going to Oxfam, where I did behave: I only got this one book (1 euro).

Naledi is upset by everything she has heard and seen, but she is also grateful that she is learning so much about her mother and her world.

Find a Scheme of Work

Naledi had never thought about it before tonight, but never, never, had she written about wanting to be…say, a doctor. Yes, that’s what she’d like to be. Image how useful it would be if she became a doctor, especially in their own village. She could even look after her own family.” (p. 72) was one of the first books to portray life as it actually was in apartheid South Africa. Both then as contemporary fiction and now as a historical novel, it tells the story of children who must show enormous courage in the face of injustice While reading the book, I often read related stuff on Wikipedia. When I saw my husband watching a video with Trevor Noah, I casually dropped a ”he grew up in Soweto”, but this was too much of an insider knowledge (?), it did not land. :/

When Journey to Jo’burg was published in 1985, the book received critical acclaim in England, the United States, and many other countries around the world. In South Africa, however, it received no attention at all. Naidoo writes: Set in South Africa, Naledi, a thirteen year old girl and her younger brother travel from their small village 300 km to get their mother (who works in Johannesburg) because their baby sister is very ill. They get help along the way from a number of people. In the process, Naledi learns about Apartheid from first hand experiences and stories from her friends. The book ends with her determined to speak with the older children at school and learn more. I think the book was a bit unrealistic in that one would expect a thirteen year old to know a bit about Apartheid. But it seems like a good introduction for American children on the subject.The next day, Naledi and Tiro travel with Mma by train to their village. At Naledi’s asking, Mma tells how hard her life is. Once in the village, Nono watches Tiro, and Mma and Naledi take Dineo to the hospital. They must wait all day to see the doctor. After Dineo is kept in the hospital for three days, Mma is able to take her home. I start with writing notes on scraps of paper as well as beginning a notebook. This is my ‘first ideas’ stage. When researching, I talk to people, visit places, take photographs, read and so on. Burn My Heart, for instance, came out of two visits to Kenya. The seeds of the novel began to emerge during my first visit. By my second visit, I was much more focused, wanting to see particular landscapes, places and people. By this stage I was already thinking about my plot. Although my plot may change a bit as I write, it is important for me to have a sense of the shape of the whole story and how I intend to tell it. Afterwards comes the actual writing – usually draft after draft! Then editing – by myself and with my editor. I often ask a few people to whom I have spoken while researching if they will read my story and comment. This helps me get a bit of distance from what I’ve written. Altogether, it’s a long slow process – but very satisfying in the end.

The author Beverley Naidoo has an interesting life story: born into a white family in South Africa, she took part in the anti-apartheid movement as a student, was jailed for 8 weeks, then left the country for the UK. She married a man from Indian descent: their union would have been ”a crime” under the apartheid laws (I'm guessing like Trevor Noah's parents'). Naidoo sent this book to family in South Africa, the book was forbidden (”undesirable publication”). Nelson Mandela, 1964 and 1990 https://beverleynaidoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Beverly-Naidoo-Refugee-Council-Turning18.mp3

Why shouldn’t young people learn what is really happening on Earth? The quicker we learn the more intelligent and strong willing we shall become. That way we can make peace.

I like to hear from adults too and was heartened when a Kenyan writer told me how he had been gripped by Burn My Heart: … read it in one sitting, so suspenseful was it. I particularly lauded and applauded the way you seemed to make mirror images of conflicting viewpoints on BOTH sides of the divide. But those children who marched in the streets don’t want to be like us...learning in school just how to be servants. They want to change what is wrong...even if they must die! Before they leave, Naledi’s friend Poleng gives them sweet potatoes to eat on their trip. She also agrees to tell Nono where they’ve gone once they’re safely away. Naledi and Tiro don’t want Nono and Mmangwane to be angry with them or keep them from going. Why did I choose this book? Well, I watched a reality show on Netflix called ”Jewish Matchmaking” (I'm not sure I recommend it :D) and two persons on the show where from Jo(')burg in South Africa. I stopped and went on Wikipedia (my go-to source on almost everything) to see what the deal with Jo'burg is (it is Johannesburg indeed!) and this is why this book appealed to me. Botswana is ”Land of the Tswana”. End of the blog post. Ah, I went to Oxfam again yesterday and got Born A Crime, Trevor Noah (3 euro, excellent condition).