Beverley Naidoo Quotes

“Their little sister is desperately ill and the two children decide to walk to the city to bring their mother home. The story tells of their awakening to the situation in their country of the appalling treatment of blacks by the rich white people.”

“When their baby sister suddenly becomes very sick, Naledi and Tiro know, deep down, that only one person can save her. ”

“The children walked quickly away from the village. The road was really just a track made by car tyres. Two lines of dusty red earth leading out across the flat dry grassland. Once at the big tar road, they turned in the direction of the early morning sun, for that was the way to Johannesburg.”

“Bravely, alone, they set off on a journey to find Mma and bring her back.”

“The children finally find their mother, but their troubles are not yet over. Things are not as simple as they thought they would be. They have to stay with their new friend for the night, then travel back with their mother the next day.”

“Each morning the children had to pass the place of graves on their way to buy the day’s water and only last week another baby in the village had died. It was always scary seeing the little graves, but especially this fresh one now.”

“Mma lives and works in Johannesburg, far from the village thirteen-year-old Naledi and her younger brother, Tiro, call home. ”

“It isn’t until they reach the city that they come to understand the dangers of their country, and the painful struggle for freedom and dignity that is taking place all around them.”

“This story is about two children who live in a poor village in South Africa. Their mother works far away in Johannesburg and their father died from a disease caught in the mines.”

“It was clear that Naledi had made up her mind -and Tiro knew his sister. She was four years older than him, already thirteen, and once she had decided something, that was that. So Tiro gave up reasoning.”