tennis
Sandra Spavins takes a look at a range of recently released books for teenagers
The Sanlam Prize for Young Literature and the Young Africa Award continue to encourage new South African writing for teenagers, and the books themselves tackle issues ranging from genetic engineering to sexuality, including stories set in the future or dealing with serial killers.
Sanlam winner Sons of Anubis by Robin Saunders (Tafelberg) is a thought-provoking novel which explores the moral issues involved in the genetic engineering of humans. Although the theme is serious, this is a story which will appeal to teenagers. It has a well-constructed plot, interesting, believable characters, an exciting climax and a satisfying end.
Chandra is a teenage girl, with separated parents, who is spending a school holiday with her father in a seaside cottage in a remote part of the Cape West Coast. Near their cottage is “The Institute”, ostensibly a mental hospital for dangerous patients, but in fact the laboratory where genetic scientists are working on “putting together a child from various bits and pieces, genes from different species, juggling bits of DNA and fitting them together like some sort of lego”.
Jeremy 7 is the partly human result of an unsuccessful experiment. He manages to escape and Chandra and her father become involved in his fate.
This is a book which can be read on different levels. Young teenagers will enjoy it as an adventure story with some elements of horror fiction. Older readers who are involved in forming their own moral values will be interested and challenged by the issues raised in the novel.
The Denials of Kow-Ten by Jenny Robson (Tafelberg) also won a Sanlam award. Kow- Ten is the name of a totally artificial “utopia” created by a group of the world’s ablest and most powerful men. The book starts on January 1 2000, when these men decide to rid themselves and their families forever of the strikes, riots, general violence and crime of the less gifted and less educated masses. With the advantage of all mankind’s technological knowledge, they create their exclusive, perfect world and arrange to bar the rest of humanity from it.
The rest of the story is set towards the end of the next century. It follows the adventures of Shiyne, a 14-year-old boy growing up in Kow-Ten. The reader is drawn into the excitement and danger of Shiyne’s attempts to find out about the outside world, and also the moral dilemma created by his unfair privilege.
This is a well-thought-out story and Shiyne is a character with whom teenagers can easily identify. Although the language is simple, the ideas in the book are complex. The Denials of Kow-Ten will appeal to intelligent young teenagers.
Dear Ludwig by Robin Saunders (Maskew Miller Longman), winner of the Young Africa Award, is the story of a family, and a community, living in fear of a serial killer operating in their neighbourhood. The book’s beginning is dramatic enough to appeal to even reluctant readers, and the pace is maintained as the story progresses. The identity of the murderer is not revealed until the end, but the reader is given sufficient clues along the way to keep him or her guessing.
Although the story is straightforward and exciting, this is not a trite teen adventure tale. The characters are varied, complex and well drawn and they relate to one another in an interesting and realistic way. Kenda, the heroine, is struggling to adapt to life in a new country; her brother has to cope with a bully; and their mother has the problems associated with single parenthood.
Robin Malan’s The Sound of New Wings (Maskew Miller Longman) was the Young Africa Award runner up. In it, Bo, a Swedish boy in his late teens, spends a year at a college in Swaziland working towards his international diploma. There he meets Nathi, a Swazi boy. They become friends and then their friendship develops into a homosexual relationship.
The story shows some of the problems that a relationship like this poses in a college hostel environment where there are rules about heterosexual relationships. It deals with the issue of homophobia, among the boys in the school and also in a conservative traditional Swazi family.
These issues arise as part of the story. This is not an in-depth study of why homophobia exists, but rather helps start a young reader thinking.
The book consists partly of narrative and partly of school documents, like various reports, essays and letters. Although these give the reader an insight into aspects of the main characters, they slow down the pace of the story and give it a stilted quality. Unfortunately, this will cause many teenage readers to stop reading after about 20 pages.
Little Sparrow by Phyllis Owen (Tafelberg) tells the story of Mnene, who has grown up and completed her schooling in Soweto. When the story begins she has just started her first job and is working for a Johannesburg law firm. Mnene is flattered and excited when Insimbi, a soccer hero, notices her and starts taking her out.
Her happiness comes to an end, however, when, one evening, Insimbi becomes enraged and beats her. Soon Insimbi’s beatings become a regular occurrence.
The author sketches the development of their relationship with credibility and insight. The reader follows Mnene’s experiences and her emotions of fear, guilt, loneliness and helplessness, until she realises that she can, and must, take control of her own life.
The writing style of Little Sparrow is rather dull and plodding, but the plot is well-constructed and the characterisation good. Mnene, the Little Sparrow, is a believable, complex character and one with whom teenage girls can readily identify. This is a book with a serious and important theme, but also a book which will appeal to many 13- to 15-year-old girls.
Erna Muller’s Match Point (Tafelberg)is about a group of senior high school boys in Namibia who are aiming to win the tennis first league. Gareth, the hero of the story, is a particularly talented player for whom winning the league is important as the first step towards a career as a professional tennis player.
Contrasted with Gareth is Sean, also a talented player, but a typical high school problem pupil, with a difficult home situation, involvement with a gang, and a tendency to be dishonest when it suits him. The plot revolves mainly around the relationship between the two boys and also their relationships with Sean’s girlfriend, Angeline.
The characters and situations in the book are realistic and show that the author has a good understanding of the characteristics and problems of high school pupils. The writing style is crisp and to the point, a style well suited to a story where a lot of the action takes place on the tennis court.
The book is easy to read and will be enjoyed by 13- to 15-year-olds. The tennis background is very important in the story and there are some detailed descriptions of tennis matches. It is a book which will not appeal to readers with no interest in the game.
On the whole 12- to 14-year-old boys either read science fiction and fantasy, or nothing at all. Wild and Dangerous by Graham Vivian Lancaster (Struik) is a book which could appeal to a boy who likes a realistic adventure story, but is daunted by a thick adult thriller. Although the writing style is rather stilted, the use of words is simple and reluctant readers would have little difficulty with this book.
Wild and Dangerous is a collection of three short stories. They all involve two teenage boys who regularly spend their school holidays on a farm in KwaZulu-Natal.
In the first story the boys meet a sangoma in an eerie sacred cave. The second story is full of action when they encounter a group of rhino poachers. In the third story the boys join in the dangerous work of fighting a forest fire. This story contains excellent, vivid descriptions of the fire and the hazards of fighting it.
These are straightforward adventure stories. The characters are not particularly interesting or complex and the book does not raise controversial issues. The KwaZulu-Natal setting plays an important part in the stories, and the book is full of details about the place and the lifestyle of the people there, painting a fascinating picture for a reader who is unfamiliar with rural Africa.