Customer Reviews

No Turning Back: A Novel of South Africa

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

 

 

NO TURNING BACK is indeed a book that tells more than a story. It is a book that transcend space and culture. This book speaks for all the teens. No matter where they are, teenagers do share the same needs: the need to be loved and cared.They are all vulnerable kids subjected to the evil forces of the society, especially in South Africa where the relationship between the White and the Black was that tense. But deep inside they are just kids, their voices can be heard in NO TURNING BACK.

A well-written, exciting, informative, and poignant tale of a young boy growing up in post-Apartheid South Africa. Young Sipho runs away from home to escape an abusive stepfather and lives on the street. Eventually taken in by a white family, Sipho learns he's only there to provide cheap labor to the father's business. Sipho runs away again. Great tale about love, forgiveness, friendship, and guilt.

This is a novel about a boy in South Africa who runs away from home because of his abusive stepfather. In the beginning it is about the boy's life on the streets and his adventures with the Malude. This part of the book is interesting and exciting, but the second half of the book gets boring, because he starts to live with a family, just like a regular kid. Overall I thought that this book was not that interesting, and I would not recomend it.

Beverley Naidoo is an award winning author. Her book No Turning Back is exceptional. The story takes place in South Africa in the early 1990s, where a young black African boy of twelve years named Sipho makes a decision to leave home to avoid further abuse from his violent stepfather. Sipho makes his way to the streets of Johannesburg. Survival on the streets is sometimes just as hard and cruel as life with his stepfather. Learning who you can trust, hunger and cold nights are a few of the problems Sipho faces.
The author in my opinion touches base on many issues including homeless street children, drugs, racism and a country on the verge of change. The book shows many examples on how the South African's rose to support Nelson Mandela and his views of restructuring a troubled nation. The books realism gives readers a chance to become familiar with life in South Africa. Sipho struggles are those of everyday people in this region of the world. I would recommend this book as one not to pass over. You can follow Sipho from being alone, threw new friendships and his hopes for a better tomorrow.

Beverley Naidoo is an award winning author. Her book No Turning Back is exceptional. The story takes place in South Africa in the early 1990s, where a young black African boy of twelve years named Sipho makes a decision to leave home to avoid further abuse from his violent stepfather. Sipho makes his way to the streets of Johannesburg. Survival on the streets is sometimes just as hard and cruel as life with his stepfather. Learning who you can trust, hunger and cold nights are a few of the problems Sipho faces.
The author in my opinion touches base on many issues including homeless street children, drugs, racism and a country on the verge of change. The book shows many examples on how the South African's rose to support Nelson Mandela and his views of restructuring a troubled nation. The books realism gives readers a chance to become familiar with life in South Africa. Sipho struggles are those of everyday people in this region of the world. I would recommend this book as one not to pass over. You can follow Sipho from being alone, threw new friendships and his hopes for a better tomorrow.

In this book, No Turning Back, we meet Sipho, a young African boy who decides to escape the violence inflicted by his stepfather. With this choice come many experiences ranging from begging for money with a gang of boys to working for a white family that offer him most everything but respect. All of these experiences Sipho experiences are all in the name of survival and a quest for something better.
This book has many benefits for children and adults alike. In talking about big issues from the use of drugs (glue as an inhalant in this case) to the very serious issues faced by racism, Sipho's experiences open up many topics of discussion and reflection.
Besides the large physical issues that this book brings to the surface, it recognizes a number of internal issues dealing with emotion. From guilt and anger to friendship and hope, this story gives a real view of an area of the world that so many people are unfamiliar with. Though many of the issues this book addresses are known about, few are recognized as being associated with life in Southern Africa.

Beverly Naidoo, the author of No Turning Back was born in Johannesburg South Africa 1943. She won a Newberry award and she has written many books such as Journey to Jo'Burg and Chain of Fire. In No Turning Back Sipho runs away from home to escape from his stepfather's horrible abuse. He meets a gang and he follows them around the city learning the ways to survive on the street. Sipho has to endure cold harsh nights sleeping on the freezing hard ground with an empty stomach. I think that this book is very interesting because the author wrote about her hometown and therefore she understands the setting. It also is interesting because it teaches people how other people live in poor countries, and why some children run away from home. It is also interesting because the main character goes though lots of trouble with drunk people, homeless people and police officers. The book No Turning Back is a good book because it is very exciting and action packed, I recommend this amazing book.

The author of No Turning back is Beverly Naidoo. She was born in Johannesburg South Africa in 1943. Her involvement with the anti-apartheid led her to be imprisoned in solitary confinement at age 21.
The main idea in the book is this 12 year old boy named Sipho that ran away from home because his stepfather abused him. When he was on the streets he joined a gang of homeless kids and ran into problems like being hungry, losing clothes and running away from strangers. My opinion on the book No Turning Back is that is a good thriller and it really develops the main character. The only thing I don't like about the book is the ending. I liked it because it was a thriller I couldn't put it down.

Beverley Naidoo was born in Johannesburg South Africa which is where the book takes place. She won a newberry award for the book Journey to Jo'burg. In No Turning Back, a 12 year old boy named Sipho runs away from his family after being abused by his stepfather in Johannesburg. He was homeless so he decided to join a gang. The gang went through many things like getting thrown in a lake and homeless people stealing their hideout. I like most of this book because it is action packed and there's a lot of events in this book. It's also not boring to read because all of the parts of the book are very interesting like the part where the gang got thrown into the lake at night. The book is also exciting because it has a lot of emotion in it. Even when the book gets to a part where it's calm, something suddenly will happen making it interesting. I recommend this book for people that like action packed adventures.

The book No Turning Back is a great shortlist book. This book is a great book to read on the fly. The book leaves you wanting more. The easy reading leave of this book lets you cruise through the pages very easily. The book keeps you guessing till the last minute.
The book is a boy named Sipho. Sipho is a young boy who runs away from his abusive stepfather to the life of the malunde (the street children of South Africa). The story takes place in apartheid S. Africa, right before the election of Nelson Mandela to Office. Sipho has to learn how to survive on the streets of Johannesburg, in a little outskirt called Hillsborough. Sipho gets lucky to make friends early on and find a clan to be able to help him in the way of the streets. Along the way Sipho meets a local shop owner in Hillsborough that gives him a job and a place to stay for a while. Sipho after commotion in the shop owners house, Sipho runs away to a boys shelter. The book has a cliffhanger ending that unless you read you will never find out what it is.