Jaco Jacobs

13 year old boy, middle child, originally written in Afrikaans. Feels like it would be good for middle schoolers -- just getting into boy-girl romance, hitting the awkward pretty hard. Some environmental awareness (tree sitting protest), some humor, and in general a nice snapshot of contemporary life for tweens in Africa as opposed to an American perspective. There's a lot of jerk behavior from Marnus' brothers, and kindness from the community. On the whole, an enjoyable read, if not a fast show more paced one. show less

Well, you don’t see a lot of books set in South Africa- so that’s why I accepted this ARC knowing nothing else about it.
Turns out it was a great decision as this coming of age book was short, sweet and quirky. Clucky (Martin) is a math guy and he sees the world through numbers. He meets a neighbor kid named Vusi who wants to make a zombie movie and unfortunately also has Hodgkins disease. The two boys end make making the movie working through the challenges of Vusi’s reality of show more treatments and staying inside.

There are some heavy themes but it is solidly MG and I think that kids in grades 4-6 will enjoy this look into life in South Africa. show less

This is a lovely novel about the friendship that develops between two young boys. "Clucky" is a boy who raises chickens, something he did with his dad, up until his dad died a couple of years before. A new family moves in down the street, including a boy Clucky's age, Vusi, who is a budding movie director, who just happens to be fighting Hodgkin's Lymphoma. The boys meet under difficult circumstances, but soon they are hard at work making a movie.

I found this a quick and very engaging read. show more It was easy to become invested in the character, their friendships, and the success of their film. show less

Lots of potential, but underdeveloped, even given that it's for inexperienced tween readers. Nice to read something from a country I'm almost completely unfamiliar with, but I didn't feel as if I learned anything (except, maybe that segregation and class are still very important, as it seems the only black character was an Uncle Remus type, a caretaker who went by "Uncle John").

I do appreciate the note on the translator. Too often their role is overlooked, and yet it's critical. Of course, show more this book was surely easier to translate than many. Still, it seems he did a good job.

There is one thing to discuss. After several days, Mr. (I can't bear to call him Uncle) John advises the kids that "you also have to know when to stop - otherwise the fight can become bigger than the thing you're fighting against." What do you think he means by that, and do you think he's right?

(I honestly don't know. To me it kinda sounds like he doesn't believe in protests for the principles. But I don't know and I welcome your ideas. You don't need to read the book to have a guess.) show less