Journey to Jo'burg: A South African Story

Product Information

What makes this book an international piece of literature is that it is about another country, South Africa, written and published in English.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (French former tennis player) has no apparent relation to South Africa (I think I assumed he had).Journey to Jo’Burg is set in South Africa during the apartheid and tells the story of Naledi and Tiro who, frightened that their baby sister Dineo will die, take a 300km journey to find their mother who works there as a maid.

There is really nice character development and vivid imagery which lends itself to readers creating drawings or paintings, allowing them to interpret their own parts of the book. The children learn about Grace's brother, Dumi, who was arrested for protesting, or speaking out against, apartheid. The author was a white girl who knew she would have suffered under Nazi Germany, but just did not realise how her black servants had to live. I will recommend this book to any young reader and not forgetting older ones who would be able to learn about hardships non whites were facing.

They are portrayed as not exactly horrible people but somewhere near there - "I can't possibly let you go today.