Journey to Jo'burg

Journey to Jo'burg
Author: Beverley Naidoo
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 88
Release: 2020-02-11
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062995065

“Has no equal. Evocative and haunting.” (School Library Journal starred review) The bestselling classic set in South Africa during the apartheid era, in which two siblings must face the dangers of their divided country. Mma lives and works in Johannesburg, far from the village thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother, Tiro, call home. When their baby sister suddenly becomes very sick, Naledi and Tiro know that they need to bring their mother back in order to save their sister’s life. Bravely, secretly, they set off on the long journey to the big city to find Mma. It isn’t until they finally reach Jo’burg that they see up close what life is like for black citizens across South Africa—and begin to really question the unfair and dangerous laws of apartheid. A classic look at prejudice and racism in apartheid South Africa, this short and compelling novel is perfect for independent reading projects and classroom sharing.

Chain of Fire

Chain of Fire
Author: Beverley Naidoo
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2004-09-02
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0141928263

Set in South Africa at the height of the apartheid regime, when the government started a policy of ethnic cleansing, forcibly removing people from their homes and moving them to so-called 'homelands'. Schoolchildren Naledi and Tiro are caught up in the protests and resistance as they and their grandmother are threatened with removal from their village. Protestors are arrested and beaten, but still people fight on. Freedom lies at the end of a long road.

Out of Bounds

Out of Bounds
Author: Beverley Naidoo
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 134
Release: 2001-06-07
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0141928255

A collection of short stories - four previously published and three new - linked by the theme of young people experiencing personal dilemmas. All are set in South Africa, first under apartheid and then after the first democratic elections. They cover the period from 1950 to 2000 and reflect the lives of a range of young people, black and white, living in what was for many years seen as the world's most openly racist society.

Wake Up, This Is Joburg

Wake Up, This Is Joburg
Author: Tanya Zack
Publisher: Duke University Press
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2022-09-19
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 1478023325

A single image taken from a high-rise building in inner-city Johannesburg uncovers layers of history—from its premise and promise of gold to its current improvisations. It reveals the city as carcass and as crucible, where informal agents and processes spearhead its rapid reshaping and transformation. In Wake Up, This Is Joburg, writer Tanya Zack and photographer Mark Lewis offer a stunning portrait of Johannesburg and personal stories of some of the city’s ordinary, odd, and outrageous residents. Their photos and essays take readers into meat markets where butchers chop cow heads; the eclectic home of an outsider artist that features turrets and full of manikins; long-abandoned gold pits beneath the city, where people continue to mine informally; and lively markets, taxi depots, and residential high-rises. Sharing people’s private and work lives and the extraordinary spaces of the metropolis, Zack and Lewis show that Johannesburg’s urban transformation occurs not in a series of dramatic, wide-scale changes but in the everyday lives, actions, and dreams of individuals.

No Turning Back

No Turning Back
Author: Beverley Naidoo
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 212
Release: 2010-06-08
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0062007939

Escaping from his violent stepfather, twelve-year-old Sipho heads for Johannesburg, where he has heard that gangs of children live on the streets. Surviving hunger and bitter-cold winter nights is hard'but learning when to trust in the ‘new' South Africa proves even more difficult. No Turning Back appeared on the short list of both the Guardian and Smarties book prizes on the United Kingdom.

Anxious Joburg

Anxious Joburg
Author: Nicky Falkof
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2020-10-01
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1776146301

An interdisciplinary account of the life of Johannesburg, South Africa's "global south city" Anxious Joburg focuses on Johannesburg, the largest and wealthiest city in South Africa, as a case study for the contemporary global South city. Global South cities are often characterised as sites of contradiction and difference that produce a range of feelings around anxiety. This is often imagined in terms of the global North’s anxieties about the South: migration, crime, terrorism, disease and environmental crisis. Anxious Joburg invites readers to consider an intimate perspective of living inside such a city. How does it feel to live in the metropolis of Johannesburg: what are the conditions, intersections, affects and experiences that mark the contemporary urban? Scholars, visual artists and storytellers, all look at unexamined aspects of Johannesburg life. From peripheral settlements to the inner city to the affluent northern suburbs, from precarious migrants and domestic workers to upwardly mobile young women and fearful elites, Anxious Joburg presents an absorbing engagement with this frustrating, dangerous, seductive city. It offers a rigorous, critical approach to Johannesburg revealing the way in which anxiety is a vital structuring principle of contemporary life. The approach is strongly interdisciplinary, with contributions from media studies, anthropology, religious studies, urban geography, migration studies and psychology. It will appeal to students and teachers, as well as to academic researchers concerned with Johannesburg, South Africa, cities and the global South. The mix of approaches will also draw a non-academic audience.

The Other Side of Truth

The Other Side of Truth
Author: Beverley Naidoo
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 261
Release: 2007-07-05
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0141922311

Puffin Classics: the definitive collection of timeless stories, for every child. Not a speck, not a stain on her gray school skirt and blue blouse to show what terrible thing had happened . . . If only by putting on something fresh and new, they could begin the day again. When twelve-year-old Sade's mother is killed, she and her little brother Femi are forced to flee from their home in Nigeria to Britain. They're not allowed to tell anyone - not even their best friends - as their whole journey is secret, dangerous - and illegal. Their dad promises to follow when he can, but once the children arrive in London, things go from bad to worse when they're abandoned by the people they had been told would protect them. Sade faces challenge after challenge - but her dad has always taught her to stand up for what is right, and to tell the truth no matter what. And with that strength of spirit in her heart, Sade will find the courage to fight for the new, happy life she, Femi and her dad deserve. A powerful novel which explores what it means to be classified as 'illegal' and the difficulties which come with being a refugee - winner of the Carnegie Medal 2000. 'A marvellous read ... that refuels the desire for justice and freedom' - Jon Snow 'Beverley Naidoo breaks the rules, producing books for young people which recognize that they want to know about the real world' Guardian 'This novel wholly deserves its classic status . . . still relevant and poignant.' Booktrust

From Jo'burg to Jozi

From Jo'burg to Jozi
Author: Heidi Holland
Publisher: Penguin Global
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2011-06-15
Genre: Johannesburg (South Africa)
ISBN: 9780143026280

Journalists Heidi Holland and Adam Roberts approached about 80 journalists and writers based in Johannesburg and asked them to write short pieces about the city in which they work and live. They did not specify form or style - the contributors were free to express themselves however they wanted to.

Lost and Found in Johannesburg

Lost and Found in Johannesburg
Author: Mark Gevisser
Publisher: Granta Books
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2014-02-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1847088597

As a boy growing up in 1970s Johannesburg Mark Gevisser would play 'Dispatcher', a game that involved sitting in his father's parked car (or in the study) and sending imaginary couriers on routes across the city, mapped out from Holmden's Register of Johannesburg. As the imaginary fleet made its way across the troubled city and its tightly bound geographies, so too did the young dispatcher begin to figure out his own place in the world. At the centre of Lost and Found in Johannesburg is the account of a young boy who is obsessed with maps and books, and other boys. Mark Gevisser's account of growing up as the gay son of Jewish immigrants, in a society deeply affected - on a daily basis - by apartheid and its legacy, provides a uniquely layered understanding of place and history. It explores a young man's maturation into a fully engaged and self-aware citizen, first of his city, then of his country and the world beyond. This is a story of memory, identity and an intensely personal relationship with the City of Gold. It is also the story of a violent home invasion and its aftermath, and of a man's determination to reclaim his home town.