Journey to Jo’burg

1. Journey to Jo’burg By Beverley Naidoo

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

3. When Beverley Naidoo was growing up, South Africa was a country that divided people into racial groups.. Beverley Naidoo

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

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

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

7. 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.

8. Beverley was amazed that there was an outcry about the treatment of Jews by the Nazis... ...but... ...there was little opposition to the similar racism that was taking place in South Africa.

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

10. Beverely Naidoo believes that books invite the reader into a different world and … Why does she write?

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

12. Books, she believes, should not be propaganda • Instead they should get you to think about a situation and … • …make up your own mind.

13. What inspired Beverley to write Journey to Jo’burg? • The book is dedicated to the maid who looked after Beverley as a child.

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

15. 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.

16. The book was banned in South Africa so Beverley’s family could not even read her work! How did the South Africans react to Journey to Jo’burg? • When Beverley sent two copies to her sister-in-law in South Africa, they never arrived.

17. 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

18. Journal Entry One Introduce the Novel & the Author • Journey to Jo’burg is a novel set in ... during… • It was written by... who... (introduce 3 interesting facts about the author)

19. Journey to Jo’burg • Naledi (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?