Customer Reviews

Chain of Fire

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My book was okay. It wasn't the greatest book I've ever read. There wasn't alot of action or any suspense. The book was a good book because the people fought back against a government that didn't care about anybody or anything. The people wouldn't let the government ruin their hope. Like when the govenment smashed their church to the ground the people just started to rebuild it right after they got done smashing it to the ground. They never gave up hope about defeating the government even when they took people and beat them unitl they heard what they wanted to hear.

I first discovered the work of Beverly Naidoo while I was traveling in South Africa and was pleased to find her books increasingly available here. She writes starkly and appropriately for the adolescent about the days of South Africa Apartheid. CHAIN OF FIRE deals with the displacement of people in Cape Town when developers wanted the desirable land for "better" uses than it was being used doe poorer people's homes.

I have had some email conversations with Ms. Naidoo and have her profiled in my co-authored Childrens' Literature text LIVING LITERATURE (Kasten, Kristo, & McClure, 2005, Prentice-Hall) so I can add a personal note that Ms. Naidoo is a White South African married to a Black South African and because of that, she was exiled from her home country during the Apartheid years (inter-marriage was illegal). She maintains a home in the U.K. but continues to visit South African often and continues to tell its stories of struggle and change brilliantly.
Wendy C. Kasten, Ph.D.

Chain of Fire, written by Beverly Naidoo, is a book of the past, present and hopefully not the future. The villagers of Bophelong are forced to move to a place unknown to them, and they are forced to move even if they don't want to move. Naledi is just a 13 year old girl that is afraid yet strong. Taolo, a young boy with a father that has been to jail, comes along as a freedom fighter and tries to help the villagers there. Taolo and Naledi fight this struggle with a fight that is like a chain of fire, building and strengthening. The illustrations, by Eric Velasquez, are placed a little off, yet they completely enhance the book. The reader will experience the emotions of sadness, fear, strength and will have a sense of what true power and cruelty really are.

This engaging companion to Journey to Jo'burg tells a passionate story of resistance. Naledi, the teenage girl in Jo'burg, and her brother, Tiro, join with the rest of their village to fight against South Africa's apartheid government that has marked their village to be destroyed and the occupants moved to a barren and nearly unlivable plot of land farther away. The fire within Naledi begins as a smoldering log. As she faces one injustice after another, the fire burns brighter and stronger. Her friendship with Taolo, the son of an active union leader from Soweto, pushes Naledi into a leadership position. She must accept the responsibility and the consequences of resistance.

Naidoo includes a diversity of personalities involved in resistance. Naledi's grandmother's hesitancy turns to quiet understanding while a few villagers choose to side with the apartheid goverment for the perks. Death, beatings, kidnappings and destroyed homes are some of the many consequences the black South Africans find in their struggle. Throughout the story you are shown the strength of community rising up against injustice.

Naidoo has provided strong and proud teenage characters who are not afriad to stand up against injustice. Naledi, Taolo and Tiro are inspirations for all of us.

Chain of Fire

Have you ever had a incident where someone treated you badly because the color of your skin or you did things differently than others? That's what happens in this story. It is all prejudice and discrimination. A black tribe is forced to move because they need more room for the white people. The blacks try to stand up for themselves but in the process many get hurt. Will they have to move or will they all possibly stand up for themselves and die? You'll only find out if you read Chain of Fire. If you want my opinion I think that this is a great book because this really could of happen. What I am really trying to say is that the subject of the book could have really happened because it was about blacks and in this time blacks weren't treated fair. This book has to do with prejudice and discrimination. Back in the early 1900's blacks weren't slaves in all parts of the world only in some places but they still weren't treated fair. If you were to rate this book from 1-10 on a rating scale I would give it a 10.

This is a good book. This book is good for childrens all age.The book talks about these kids Naledi and Taolo trying to save their land from the Europian. Naledi and Taolo found numbers on house that ment everything to the whole town. The town had a metting that chief Skete had set up. Chief skete had to brake the news to them to tell them that they have to go home because the government is kicking them out of the land but Mma Tashedi said this is our land we have nowhere else to go and i don't want to leave. Naledi knows somethings wrong and shes going to do what ever she has to save her land .Naledi and the town marched to the town to fight against them.As the go on they get stronger and wiser.Naledi find out that her friend Taolois gone. Iwonder what she is going to do.This book is good for childre because it teaches them to always fight for what they love.

Chain of Fire is about a small town in South Africa called Bophelong living in the time of apartheid. The people of the town find out that they are going to be moved from their homes. Soon the school children start a plan to protest. Naidoo tells the story in a way that makes you really see the story. At some parts it is confusing, but in the end the reader figures it out. There are some suspenseful parts, but it is sort of boring. If the reader likes books on history and rebelling read Chain of Fire.

Review for Chain of Fire

The book Chain of Fire is about a small village in Africa and how they try to defend their own land. One day a group of men come from Europe to invade and take over parts of Africa. The village men and women are forced by the government to move their houses and find another place to stay. Majority of them refuse to move because they have bought the land and they have been paying for it so they find no reason why they should be removed from their own houses. It is a very suspenseful story and many problems occur. The villagers don't give up. Read the book Chain of Fire to find out what happens to the villagers land even with all the consequences in their lives.

Determination and resistance is the only thing that Naledi and the villagers, from the Chain of fire have left after the European's took everything else away from them. Chain of fire by Beverly Naidoo will captivate readers as they see how the South African's struggled and fought for freedom. The South Africans are willing to do anything that will help them have a say in their own land even if it means going behind the European's backs. The Europeans with all their force, power, and control only have to tell the South African's what to do and if they disobey, then they will have to face the serious consequences. This book deserves 4 stars as it is truly amazing with all the detail that Beverly Naidoo has put in. The book makes the reader realize how tough life was for the South African's in their own land. With every new crisis that occurs the chain of the community becomes stronger, longer, and brighter.

Chain of Fire written by Beverly Naidoo

The book Chain of Fire is a very historical kind of book which is centered on apartheid. Naledi and her ambitious friend Taolo, decide to convince the whole school to protest against what the white people are doing. The Europeans have decided to move Naledi's whole community to their alleged home town. Naledi becomes voted into an anti-removal committee. Now their forces grow weak and people are hurt; they are determined to continue resisting. Whilst her grandma's condition gets worse, when people abandon others, and when people go missing, Naledi doesn't know who to turn too. How will they stop the police from moving them, will they change things in time, or will they resist...and win...?

i recomend this book, escpecially to kids who are learning about African history