Journey to Jo’burg

Story

Naledi and Tiro are worried about their baby sister, Dineo. She is not well and may have an incurable disease. Knowing that only their mother will be able to help her, Naledi and Tiro travel to Johannesburg to find her. But apartheid South Africa is not a good place for two young black children to venture out alone, and they learn that life is much crueller in the city than in the small village they are used to.

Why we chose it

Written over 30 years ago Journey to Jo’burg 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

Where it came from

Beverley Naidoo grew up in apartheid South Africa. As a student, she protested against it and in 1965 was exiled for her participation. She came to England, her father’s home country, and decided to write Journey to Jo’burg based on the experiences she had seen and lived through.

Where it went next

After publication, Beverley Naidoo tried to send the book to her nieces and nephews in South Africa. The book was seized, and all copies were banned in the country. Outside South Africa, the book was a success, winning the Parents' Choice Honor Book for Paperback Literature, USA (1988), the Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, USA (1986), the Child Study Children's Book Committee Award, USA (1986), and The Other Award in the UK (1985). Following Nelson Mandela’s prison release in 1991, the ban on the book was finally lifted in South Africa.

Associated stories

Following the success of Journey to Jo’burg, Beverley Naidoo wrote a sequel to the story called Chain of Fire (1989). Other popular children’s books by the author include, No Turning Back (1997), The Other Side of The Truth (2000), Web of Lies (2004), Burn My Heart (2008) and Out of Bounds (2008). Although many of her books are set in South Africa, she also focusses on refugees and immigration in her latest stories.