The Power of One (Young Reader's Edition) [Hardcover]

Bryce Courtenay (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 13, 2005 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

In 1939, hatred took root in South Africa, where the seeds of apartheid were newly sown. There a boy called Peekay was born. He spoke the wrong language–English. He was nursed by a woman of the wrong color–black. His childhood was marked by humiliation and abandonment. Yet he vowed to survive–he would become welterweight champion of the world, he would dream heroic dreams.
But his dreams were nothing compared to what awaited him. For he embarked on an epic journey, where he would learn the power of words, the power to transform lives, and the mystical power that would sustain him even when it appeared that villainy would rule the world: The Power of One.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up–The opening chapters of this haunting autobiographical novel, set in small-town South Africa during World War II, are as bleak and violent as anything written for young people. Five-year-old Peekay is the only English-speaking boy in a harsh Afrikaans-language boarding school. He is urinated on by a pack of older boys, and then beaten for it by the matron. Although he endures many losses, he grows through his experiences. His goal is to become a boxer, and the story shows how hard work can lead to success. Peekay forges loving relationships with adults, most notably Doc, a German professor. When Doc is detained as an enemy alien, Peekay's life becomes intertwined with the local prison. It is there that he learns to box and becomes a secret ally of the black prisoners. Courtenay's deft and chillingly accurate characterization of the Afrikaner prison warders. The author is unsparing in his portrayal of the brutality meted out to prisoners and in his depiction of racist speech. Courtenay's ear for dialogue is impressive, and he consistently captures the cadences of South African speech. Peekay's story is written in a direct, almost childlike style, which sometimes seems bland, but readers will be swept along by the events in the protagonist's life. The book packs a powerful emotional punch, evoking horror, laughter, and empathy. It is a condensed version of the first part of Courtenay's adult book of the same title, and the ending feels artificial and unresolved. In all, this is an extraordinary and unusual survival story, and one that should inspire young people feeling battered by the circumstances of their own lives.–Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City
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From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. "I went in under the arm with a quick uppercut and caught him in the ribs." The sports action is exciting in this story about Peekay, a white English-speaking boy in rural South Africa during World War II, who becomes a talented boxer and dreams of being welterweight champion of the world. With the help of several mentors, including an Afrikaner, a German botanist and pianist, a Coloured (mixed-race) worker in the local jail, a brave librarian, and a Jewish teacher, Peekay not only wins the local boxing championship but helps desperate African chain-gang prisoners send letters home. The original book was published for adults and made into a movie with Morgan Freeman; this effective condensation for YAs gives a sense of personal uplift, despite the virulent racism, but American teens won't get the complex political history. What is timeless is the picture of the sport and the kid who takes on the giants and wins. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (September 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385732546
• ISBN-13: 978-0385732543
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #7 in Books > Children's Books > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > Africa
  • #78 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Prejudice & Racism

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "First with the Head and Then With the Heart...", November 8, 2006

By 

R. M. Fisher "Raye" (New Zealand = Middle Earth!) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Power of One (Young Reader's Edition) (Hardcover)

There are two versions of Bryce Courtney's "The Power of One"; the original version and this, the junior novelisation. The two are quite different so make sure that you double-check what publication you're getting before you order. I would suggest the older version for most readers, since this basically tells the same story in simplified form. However, in Australia and New Zealand, "The Power of One" has reached almost cult-status in terms of popularity, and some younger readers will leap at the chance to familiarise themselves with the story before they are ready to tackle the more complex and violent subject matter of the original. Furthermore, it is a perfect choice for school libraries and/or compulsory reading in classrooms.

Like the adult version, the junior novelisation is concerned with the life of Peekay, a young boy living in 1930's South Africa, coping with racism, tension between the various social groups of the time (the Boers, the English and the Africans) and the growing threat of World War II. This younger version begins in the same place as the adult one, with Peekay being sent to a boarding school in which he is urinated on by his fellow students - a clear sign that Courtney is not prepared to soften the harshness and cruelty of the original book for the benefit of a younger audience. In comparison this story ends after the famous concert at the prison, the moment in which the adult novel really begins.

The junior novel follows Peekay's journey from childhood into earlier adolescence and the beginnings of the adult world, told in significantly less detail and in more simplified language than the first "Power of One". On the way, he makes friends from every race and class, learning the most important truth of his life: to think with his head and then with his heart. In particular, he finds work in a jail, inventing an ingenious way to help the convicts communicate with their families on the outside, and discovers the sport of boxing along with the remarkable idea that you do not have to be the biggest in order to be the best.

Courtney's gift comes from finding the grey areas in each situation, showing us clearly that one race, one country, one ideology is never wholly righteous; goodness can only come from an individual. Near the beginning of the book Peekay is persecuted by Nazi-supporters; later a dear friend of his unfairly is jailed for being a German. Humanity's overwhelming desire to classify and then judge people based on these classifications is never more frustrating than it is here, and it is a lesson well worth learning.

Although this is a more-than-adequate introductory book for younger readers eager to tackle "The Power of One", I would recommend to anyone else over the age of twelve (or any confident reader under that age) that they simply pick up the first (and best) adult version.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hardcover is a Condensed edition!, December 16, 2005

By 

P. Carvalho (Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Power of One (Young Reader's Edition) (Hardcover)

I love this book so I thought I'd buy a hardcover edition. I didn't know it until the book arrived that it is a "young readers' condensed edition".

If you are looking for a shortened version of the story for a young adult, choose this one, otherwise pick up the paperback edition.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars growing strong, February 24, 2006

By 

Gerda Wuerstl (Bonita Springs, FL, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Power of One (Young Reader's Edition) (Hardcover)

how you can feel with a little boy's hardship in a boarding school and how you hope for his stamina and how you love his intense friendships that bring him on his way.

You really live with that life and that is best a book can do.