Rainmaker by Don Pinnock (Jacana)
From the gang-ridden streets of Bonteheuwel to the forbidding mountains of the Western Cape, Ky’s journey, in his attempt to escape from the fury of a mafia boss, turns out to be far more than a change of place. Exiled and placed in the care of Zimry, /Xam shaman and game ranger extraordinary, Ky begins to learn of another world, the Other Side, and of another people, the First People, his people.
In this wonderful mix of reality and fantasy, Don Pinnock introduces his young readers to the legends of the /Xam, the world of the shaman, the stories behind the rock paintings and the shameful story of a people almost rendered extinct by the greed of others. It is an extraordinary and evocative book that is, perhaps, not an easy read but certainly a worthwhile one. — Pat Schwartz
Kat in die Pan vir die Fransman by Jelleke Wierenga, illustrated by Frans Groenewald (Maskew Miller Longman)
Kat in die Pan vir die Fransman is a deserving winner of this year’s Maskew Miller Longman Literary Award. This delightful story tells of two siblings, Bruno and Bronnie, who live with their mother in a small South African town. She works at a restaurant, the Volkskombuis, but Bruno, who narrates the story, says it is not actually a kitchen for the people but rather a restaurant for the rich. His mother is the assistant manager, which means that she does almost everything.
The children help out at the restaurant but Bruno has difficulty hiding an intense dislike for the chef, Jacques Viviers, who pretends to be French but, our narrator says, everyone in town knows he is actually Koos Viviers from Sannieshof.
The story swings into full action when the family cat, Kattebol, goes missing and Viviers seems to be working extra hard on a “mystery dish” to impress a Frenchman who is known to award Michelin stars to the world’s best restaurants.
Wierenga’s writing is wonderfully quirky and adventurous. Children and adults alike will be greatly amused by the turns in the plot, the witty dialogue and the keen observations. — Lisa Steyn
Bitter Chocolate by Sally Grindley (Bloomsbury)
This painful story of a child caught up in the violence in Guinea, forced to join a rebel army and finally kidnapped and enslaved on a cocoa plantation rings only too true in today’s Africa. Pascal, just 10 years old when his village is destroyed and his father blown up before his eyes, has one dream only — many nightmares but only one dream — to find out whether his mother and sisters have survived.
In the telling, Grindley evokes the horror of a child forced to turn killer and of conditions on the plantations that supply the world with the raw materials for one of its best-loved luxuries. We never find out whether Pascal is reunited with his mother but this grim story does end on a note of hope. It’s not an easy book to read but it’s very well written and there’s no harm in South African teenagers learning something of the reality of other lives on their continent. — Pat Schwartz
Lost in Liberia by Jean and Brian Smith (Cambridge University Press)
Lost in Liberia is the story of two British children, 11-year-old twins Rob and Joanne, who get separated from their parents and travel across Liberia and into Guinea looking for them. On their journey they encounter a crocodile, a leopard, snakes, baboons, friendly and unfriendly villagers, a Liberian girl named Oneday and a mysterious scarred soldier, who actively pursues them. Does he want to kidnap them, as the children believe? Or does he have another plan in mind?
Jean and Brian Smith lived in Monrovia for eight years, which gives their story a ring of authenticity. But the events appear to be set in the period in which they were there — the 1970s — so the book is rather colonial in tone. For example, the children ask a man they meet his “country name”, but decide not to use it because it’s too difficult to pronounce. They reminisce about their privileged white life, while the country is in a state of warfare.
However, on their travels with Oneday, they make an effort to learn the local language. Lost in Liberia is a fairly enjoyable story in true Enid Blyton style, but it’s perhaps a little too old-fashioned in its attitudes for children today. — Tarryn Harbour
Pops and the Nearly Dead by Edyth Bulbring (Penguin)
Sent off for a three-month stay in the care of his grandfather (the eponymous Pops), Randolph St John Goodenough (who would, not surprisingly, prefer to be called Red) discovers that retirement is not necessarily one step before death (or even near death) — certainly not for most of the residents of Nelson Mandela Gardens, a retirement village in Port Elizabeth. Through the eyes and words of her teenage protagonist and through the irrepressible Pops and a host of more or less loveable eccentrics — human and canine — Bulbring entertains and informs.
With a good ear and an empathy for the concerns of both young and not-so-young, she constructs a compelling narrative with a subtle lesson about the value of age and the wisdom it sometimes brings. — Pat Schwartz
Melly, Mrs Ho and me by Edyth Bulbring (Penguin)
It’s not easy living with the name April-May February — and that’s just the beginning of the poor girl’s problems — divorced parents, irresponsible but adored father (whom she calls Fluffy!), mom’s boyfriend, new school, second-hand uniform and Mrs Ho, the apparently omnipresent teacher who hates her. But there is Melly, who just wants to be friends.
So, when April-May meets Edward the Vampire, in the form of Sebastian, she is ready to do anything for him, which almost ends in tragedy. But it all turns out well in the end and our heroine learns that appearances aren’t everything and good friends are those who stick by you at all costs.
I wasn’t crazy about the book but then I’m not a teenager and I expect many of them will identify with the luckless April-May and, hopefully, pick up on the message about the value of true friendship. — Pat Schwartz
Ngiyadela Ngobuntu: I’m giving up on humanity by Mbuyiseni Fana Mdlalose (Cambridge University Press)
Khumalo works for the king as a chief of his village and complains about the rapid changes taking place in black society.
He puts most of the blame on the government, but he also blames parents for not disciplining their children. He talks about drug abuse by young teenagers and how girls are becoming hooked on cigarettes, which hardly happened in the old days.
He worries about the way foreigners are flocking to his beloved country and blames them for bringing drugs, which, in turn, lead to crime.
He shows his anger by referring to foreigners as makwerekwere. He also expresses his hatred of gay men, which is ironic, because his son heads the gay society in the area.
He strongly discriminates against albinos, not knowing that he, himself, fathered one when he had unprotected sex with a friend’s daughter, who had an albino baby.
As for foreigners, Khumalo discovers his grandfather came from Zimbabwe.
This book, written in isiZulu and suitable for high school learners, teaches the importance of appreciating diversity. It focuses on safe sex and, even better, abstinence. — Wendy Mosetlhi
Die Groenmambas en Shaka se Spies by Carina Diedericks-Hugo, illustrated by Peter Woolbridge (Maskew Miller Longman)
This contemporary children’s book follows a group of friends, Inge, Xavier, Alisha and Zuki, in their senior year of primary school, who refer to themselves as “The Green Mambas”.
The four learn that they will be members of an athletics and swimming tour in Durban. On the way to Durban, Zuki meets a man who appears to have been stabbed. He hands Zuki a mysterious package and disappears and the Green Mambas can’t wait to get on the case.
The story is peppered with references to popular culture — the latest technology, pop music, sports teams — “hy hardloop as of die hele All Black rugbyspan hom om die baan jaag [he ran as though the whole All Black rugby team was chasing him] — and even some cultural facts about South Africa are neatly woven into the plot.
Diedericks-Hugo keeps the dialogue relevant, with a particular emphasis on colloquialisms that Afrikaans-speakers use today.
Young readers will enjoy a few giggles and be intrigued by the plot, although some may be disappointed by questions left unanswered at the end. — Lisa Steyn