Paper Bird: A Novel of South Africa - Hardcover

Maartens, Maretha

3.73

11 ratings by Goodreads

9780395564905: Paper Bird: A Novel of South Africa

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395564905 ISBN 13: 9780395564905

Publisher: Clarion Books, 1991

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Because he is responsible for keeping his pregnant mother and brothers and sisters from starving, young Adam travels daily from his small black South African township to sell newspapers in the city, until marauding bands of thugs make this work dangerous and force him to a difficult decision.Adam, a young boy from a black South African township, braves soldiers, attackers, and his own fears of reprisals to support his mother and younger siblings by selling newspapers in Bloemfontein

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Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Afrikaans

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6-- A black South African township during the 1986 uprising is the setting for this average coming-of-age story. Ten-year-old Adam, a newspaper seller, has daunting problems. Not only has his recently widowed mother just given birth to twins, but also political activists have called a "stay-at-home" (the South African equivalent of a general strike). If he complies, Adam risks losing the wages that are his family's only source of income; if he goes to work, he risks being caught and punished. Pretending to be an innocent child at play, Adam makes his way to the city. When he falls ill from sleeping in a park, he is cared for by an elderly white co-worker. He arrives home two days later a hero and a man, with his pay intact. Although the bleak township setting successfully evokes poverty and hardship, the characters, aside from Adam, are one-dimensional and rather wooden. The symbolism of the paper bird, a newspaper borne aloft by the wind that reflects both Adam's despair and his hope for the future, seems forced and heavy-handed. The omission of a few key words (e.g., "colored people") from the glossary will cause confusion for American readers, as will the peculiarly South African clues to the ethnic identities of the newspaper sellers. Adam grows in courage as the story progresses, but neither he nor readers increase their understanding of why the people are protesting, or why the police are shooting them. Curiously, the police appear less ominous than the activists. Beverley Naidoo's Chain of Fire (HarperCollins, 1990) is a more insightful portrayal of the same period from the point of view of a child activist. --Susan Giffard, Englewood Public Library, NJ
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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