Customer Reviews

Waiting for The Rain (Laurel Leaf Books)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

This was an excellent book, very good. I see lots of other people from Kingston enjoyed this book as much as me. I found out about this site from my freind. The story was about a boy named Tengo and a boy named Frekkie. Tengo grew up on a farm where he liked to work and play, but he always wanted to get an education. On the other hand Frekkie was a white boy who went to school and had an education but he rather be on a farm. Every summer Frekkie would come to see Tengo on the farm until one year Tengo wasn't there, he found out that he left to Johannesburg, Frekkie was upset and sad. The schools in Johannesburg were all closed from protesting and demonstrations, so Tengo was tempted to go back to the farm, where the Oubas told him to stay, "where it was safe". At the end of the novel, the two long lost friends re-united and were mad at eachother for a while, but soon worked it out. This was one of the best books I've ever read. I defenetly give this book 5 stars.

<Note to Author> If you ever get this message, I would like to know if you have any other books that are just as well written.

"Waiting for the Rain" is the story of two boys--one black and one white--and the story of their friendship. The author, Sheila Gordon, shows how the boys' lives seperate as each one pursues their dreams and their friendship breaks under the pressure of apartheid. This excellent story is very touching and enjoyable and also a good book to read and discuss with others who have read it.

WAITING For The Rain is a good book because it is about the very serious matter of apartheid. This story takes place in South Africa, in this story there are two friends one Frikkie a white boy who's uncle owns a farm the other Tengo a black boy who works on the farm. Frikkie is a nice boy who does not discriminate against blacks. He lives in the city, he comes to see his uncle and to visit his good friend Tengo. Frikkie and Tengo love to play together. Frikkie Has lived on the farm his whole life, so he does not know much of apartheid and discrimination. Tengo urns to learn and go to school which is something that Frikkie takes for granted. Tengo has some text books but he has read them all over and over. Even though Tengo does not go to school or get to learn much you can tell he is very smart. Then something happens to Tengo, his cousin who lives out side the city comes to visit. His cousin tells Tengo about apartheid and Tengo is shocked that something that unfair and horrible existed. I am not going to give away the story, so you will have to find out what happens to their friendship. I liked this book very much because it shows what apartheid can do to a friendship, and how a friend ship can exist through adversity. I recommend this book to somebody who is looking for a serious read.

Waiting For the Rain was an interesting and factual book that gave me a lot of knowledge about the apartheid. After a while though I thought that the book dragged on and did not stay on topic. Soon, Frikkie was no longer a main character and the book focused on Tengo and how he struggled with the harsh laws of the apartheid. I would recommend this book if you are interested in history and the apartheid, this is the right book for you.

Waiting for the rain was a good book involving the racial discrimination in South Africa. In this book a white boy and a black boy who have been friends for as long as they can remember, but soon grow apart because of ideals. The book shows extremely well how the perspectives of one group can have a completely different view on an incident than another depending on the position in the situation. It also, in my opinion, shows what living in South Africa is really like discrimination and all. It plainly shows how many people do not realize something is wrong because to them it has always been that way and they were never told how wrong it was. It also shows how one person can make a change no matter how small that will make a great impact upon the people around it. The story in my opinion was one of the best stories I have ever read on discrimination.

Too understand this book all you have to do is take it to a higher level...

Waiting for the Rain, i think, is a metaphor that means...hope of change... because waiting is like hoping and the rain is a change from hot sunny, dry days......

"Waiting for the Rain" takes place on a South African veld and in the town of Johannesburg. The book takes place in the early 1900's. Three quarters of the book takes place in Johannesburg, and one quarter on the Oom Koo's farm. The farm has a field that is a brownish yellow because of no rain. The days are usually hot with blue skies. There is a stream that runs down the side of the farm with trees around it soaking up the streams' fresh, cool water. There are cows in the barn waiting to be milked at 4. There's a large house for the white people and a small hut for the black people. In Johannesburg, there are office buildings and malls. Not many skyscrapers, but a lot of large houses with a pool. The schools are for white people only, and black people only, no mixes.

Tengo's internal conflict was that he was, and wanted to be friends with Frikkie. His external conflict was that he wanted freedom. He knows now what freedom is because he has seen what he could have and people have helped him see that the white people get the larger houses, more money, and better schools. When he is near the church he begins get involved. He hurls a rock at the white soldiers. He does it again and again until someone shoots a comrade. Then they think he shoot their comrade. So, Tengo decides to run, as he is running he can feel the shoots hitting the ground by his feet. He runs faster until he reaches a car wreckage site. There he rests in a small shack. If Tengo wants freedom, which means that he will have to fight Frikkie, his friend.
Conflict:
Tengo and Frikkie are still waiting for the rain. They are waiting for their lives to start or they are waiting and hoping for change.
External
Racism
Internal
Life is unfair

The conflict is not resolved. There isn't really an ending either. The story doesn't end by Frikkie and Tengo talking about how it's going in their lives, and Frikkie returning safely to the army camp and Tengo returning to his Aunts house. The story doesn't end.

As Tengo grew older he wanted to learn, by learning, he saw that there was something wrong and unfair about his and fellow Africans. Why do the white people have all the big farms, big meals, big houses and we barely get by with one or two meals if were lucky. In the beginning of "Waiting for the Rain", Tengo was obedient to his master who told him what to do. In the middle of the book, Tengo developed the need of knowledge and then eventually knowledge. One day Tengo saw that Frikkie's sister, who was younger than Tengo, could read a lot better then him. This made Tengo jealous and wanted to learn more. When he went off to Johannesburg to go to school. There he learned a great deal of information and was a good student. If he kept it up, he was going to go to college in the USA. This all changed by the end of the book. Tengo had and has confusion of life and the future. When Joseph told Tengo about how he could help fight back it made Tengo to start thinking. Tengo couldn't go to school because the other students were protesting. Then Tengo almost kills his friend, Frikkie. Then they go on with their own lives confused.

This book is fun, exciting book about how two children have been friends since birth. One boy named Frikkie comes to his uncles farm every chance he gets, when he grows up he is going to own it. Tengo works on Frikkie's uncles farm all year long. This is a time when racism is still very big but the children do not understand that because they are to young. The boys eventually find there life in crisis. Frikkie enters in the army and abaondones the farm life for school, and struggles in the apartheid. Can they sustain their friendship even in the apartheid and there different life styles?

Is it right to discriminate someone just because of the color of their skin? Right or not, this has been going on in South Africa. The book, Waiting for the Rain, by Sheila Gordon, gives a good perspective on how the blacks were treated in Africa. The protagonist is a black boy, named Tengo, who lives on a farm with his parents under the owner Oom Koos. Tengo becomes friends with Oom Koo's nephew Frikkie. Tengo and Frikkie get along really well, until they get older and start to understand the racial discrimination of the blacks in South Africa. Tengo really enjoys to learn and thrives to see the world. When he moves to Johannesburg with his cousin Joseph to go to school, he learns a lot more than he bargained for. Tengo had to go through many struggles in his life while in the city. He learned how life truly was for blacks and how much the whites really hated them and that things were all segregated. He finally was able to decide in the end of the book what he wanted to do in life. I really enjoyed the end of the book. I liked how the author had the last meeting with Tengo and Frikkie, and how they were able to talk one last time. I also loved how the book ended and how it kept u thinking. Overall, I think book was well written and told the lifestyles of blacks in South Africa well. The book was a little below the grade level it was given. I recommend this book to people who enjoy learning about other countries and apartheid. It gives a good perspective and insight on how life was for the blacks.

The people in our group didn't like the book because the characters were too dull and boring. We also thought that the book was too long, and the main idea wasnt put forward quickly. Tengo was mentioned alot in the book but Frikkie wasn't mentioned as much. It got tiring after a while because the author kept writing about Tengo and his life, but nothing really happened in Frikkie's life, when they are both the main characters. The story itself was not special. Normally stories are about interesting situations or people, but in this book nothing is interesting. It could have happened to anyone living under "apartheid". The author should've used aparthied in more situations. Also, there were too many small problems which were fussed over too much. In conclusion the book was extremely boring and unmeaningful.

Waiting for the Rain, an historical fiction novel by Sheila Gordon, is a story about prejudice that will shock you. It takes place during the 1950s in the bustling cities and grassy planes of South Africa. At this time, the country is filled with racial prejudice. The two main characters, Tengo and Frikkie, are childhood friends; however, one of them is white and the other is black.
Tengo and Frikkie soon find that they are fighting on opposite sides in this racial battle. Tengo dedicates himself to a life of change, and Frikkie joins an army that attempts to keep life the way it has always been. The reader will love the suspense created by their changing relationship. Also, the reader will enjoy the detailed language the author uses to describe the setting. Everyone with a heart will love this book and be driven to learn more about this period in time.