Waiting for the Rain: A Novel of South Africa

by Sheila Gordon

Book Overview

This novel shows the bonds of friendship under the strain of apartheid as two lifelong friends, Tengo and Frikkie, come of age amidst the tragedy of South Africa. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0440226988
• ISBN13: 9780440226987
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf Library
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.28 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 7.0"
• Age Range: 12 to 17 years
• Grade Range: Grades 7 to 12

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

"Waiting for the Rain" is the story of two boys--one black and one white--and the story of their friendship. The author, Sheila Gordon, shows how the boys' lives seperate as each one pursues their dreams and their friendship breaks under the pressure of apartheid. This excellent story is very touching and enjoyable and also a good book to read and discuss with others who have read it.

Waiting for the Rain

Waiting for the rain was a good book involving the racial discrimination in South Africa. In this book a white boy and a black boy who have been friends for as long as they can remember, but soon grow apart because of ideals. The book shows extremely well how the perspectives of one group can have a completely different view on an incident than another depending on the position in the situation. It also, in my opinion, shows what living in South Africa is really like discrimination and all. It plainly shows how many people do not realize something is wrong because to them it has always been that way and they were never told how wrong it was. It also shows how one person can make a change no matter how small that will make a great impact upon the people around it. The story in my opinion was one of the best stories I have ever read on discrimination.

take this book to a higher level

Too understand this book all you have to do is take it to a higher level...Waiting for the Rain, i think, is a metaphor that means...hope of change... because waiting is like hoping and the rain is a change from hot sunny, dry days......"Waiting for the Rain" takes place on a South African veld and in the town of Johannesburg. The book takes place in the early 1900's. Three quarters of the book takes place in Johannesburg, and one quarter on the Oom Koo's farm. The farm has a field that is a brownish yellow because of no rain. The days are usually hot with blue skies. There is a stream that runs down the side of the farm with trees around it soaking up the streams' fresh, cool water. There are cows in the barn waiting to be milked at 4. There's a large house for the white people and a small hut for the black people. In Johannesburg, there are office buildings and malls. Not many skyscrapers, but a lot of large houses with a pool. The schools are for white people only, and black people only, no mixes.Tengo's internal conflict was that he was, and wanted to be friends with Frikkie. His external conflict was that he wanted freedom. He knows now what freedom is because he has seen what he could have and people have helped him see that the white people get the larger houses, more money, and better schools. When he is near the church he begins get involved. He hurls a rock at the white soldiers. He does it again and again until someone shoots a comrade. Then they think he shoot their comrade. So, Tengo decides to run, as he is running he can feel the shoots hitting the ground by his feet. He runs faster until he reaches a car wreckage site. There he rests in a small shack. If Tengo wants freedom, which means that he will have to fight Frikkie, his friend.Conflict: Tengo and Frikkie are still waiting for the rain. They are waiting for their lives to start or they are waiting and hoping for change.ExternalRacism InternalLife is unfairThe conflict is not resolved. There isn't really an ending either. The story doesn't end by Frikkie and Tengo talking about how it's going in their lives, and Frikkie returning safely to the army camp and Tengo returning to his Aunts house. The story doesn't end.As Tengo grew older he wanted to learn, by learning, he saw that there was something wrong and unfair about his and fellow Africans. Why do the white people have all the big farms, big meals, big houses and we barely get by with one or two meals if were lucky. In the beginning of "Waiting for the Rain", Tengo was obedient to his master who told him what to do. In the middle of the book, Tengo developed the need of knowledge and then eventually knowledge. One day Tengo saw that Frikkie's sister, who was younger than Tengo, could read a lot better then him. This made Tengo jealous and wanted to learn more. When he went off to Johannesburg to go to school. There he learned a great deal of information and was a good student. If he kept it up, he was going

A story about two boys trying to stay friends

This was an excellent book, very good. I see lots of other people from Kingston enjoyed this book as much as me. I found out about this site from my freind. The story was about a boy named Tengo and a boy named Frekkie. Tengo grew up on a farm where he liked to work and play, but he always wanted to get an education. On the other hand Frekkie was a white boy who went to school and had an education but he rather be on a farm. Every summer Frekkie would come to see Tengo on the farm until one year Tengo wasn't there, he found out that he left to Johannesburg, Frekkie was upset and sad. The schools in Johannesburg were all closed from protesting and demonstrations, so Tengo was tempted to go back to the farm, where the Oubas told him to stay, "where it was safe". At the end of the novel, the two long lost friends re-united and were mad at eachother for a while, but soon worked it out. This was one of the best books I've ever read. I defenetly give this book 5 stars. If you ever get this message, I would like to know if you have any other books that are just as well written.

My review

The book was cool I like when they were always playing at the farm. Then I liked when Frikkie got hit in the head with a half of a crow bar. I liked all of the things in the book.