Journey to Jo’burg

By Beverley Naidoo

This book was written by Beverley Naidoo, a South African writer, who grew up in Johannesburg (Jo’burg)

Beverley NaidooWhen Beverley Naidoo was

growing up, South Africa was a country that divided people into racial groups..

… and forced some of them to carry pass books...

… and restricted where they could go and even where they could sit!

The first book that Beverley Naidoo read that had a real impact on her was The Diary of Anne Frank

As she read about Anne Frank’s life, she realized that if her family had not left Europe for South Africa, they would have suffered the same fate as Anne.

Beverley’s mother was also Jewish.

Beverley was amazed that there was an outcry about the treatment of Jews by the Nazis...

...there was little opposition to the similar racism that was taking place in South Africa.

...but...

By the time Beverely Naidoo was in her 20s, she was involved in the political movement to end apartheid in South Africa.

Why does she write?Beverely Naidoo

believes that books invite the reader into a different world and …

…allow us to become involved in situations very different from our own.

Books, she believes, should not be propaganda

Instead they should get you to think about a situation and …

…make up your own mind.

What inspired Beverley to write Journey to Jo’burg?

The book is dedicated to the maid who looked after Beverley as a child.

Beverley Naidoo remembers that her maid’s two children died when they were being looked after by their 11 year old sister.

Beverley, like all white South Africans, was being looked after by someone else’s mother.

• Her maid was unable to care for her own children, and instead took care of her employers’ children.

How did the South Africans react to Journey to Jo’burg?

The book was banned in South Africa so Beverley’s family could not even read her work!

When Beverley sent two copies to her sister-in-law in South Africa, they never arrived.

It was not until 1991 that people living in South Africa could read Beverley Naidoo’s books

Apartheid gradually came to an end between 1990 and 1993

In 1994 Black South Africans were able to vote in democratic elections for the first time

Journal Entry One

Introduce the Novel & the AuthorJourney to Jo’burg is a

novel set in ... during…It was written by... who...

(introduce 3 interesting facts about the author)

Journey to Jo’burgNaledi (13) and her brother Tiro (9) are

looking for their mother in Johannesburg, 300 kilometres away from their home. On their journey they meet Grace, who helps them and offers to take them home for the night.

Q. Why do you think Naledi and Tiro are travelling by themselves to find their mother?

Q. Why is their mother 300 kilometres away in Johannesburg?

Grown-up bodies pressed in from above and all around them. Some people laughed, some people swore and others kept silent, as the train shook and lurched on its way.

How busy was the train? What time of day was it?

But in a sudden surge at one of the stations, they found themselves being carried forwards, hurling out on to the platform.

Were the children still on the train? What happened? How do you think they were feeling?

Suddenly, without any warning, there was a commotion up ahead. Three figures in uniform stood at the top of the stairs. Who were the three figures in uniform?

A man was protesting loudly that he had left his pass at home. Why was the man upset about his pass?

We can't stay on the bridge while the police are here panted Naledi when they had got past. Why did they want to avoid the police?

All three raced back down the road, but just as they came in sight of the station, there was the big police van pulling off.

Who might be the third person? Why were they running?

“I’ll burn this one day!” stormed the boy, picking up his father’s pass. What will he burn? What is the meaning of “stormed”? How is the boy feeling?

This time I'm really going to hold on to you she told them, taking each firmly by the hand. Who might be the “she” who took them

firmly “by the hand”?