Waiting for The Rain (Phoenix Honor Books (Awards)) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author) "The second thing Frikkie always did when he arrived at his uncle's farm for the school holidays was look for Tengo..." (more)
Key Phrases: clay bull, bluegum trees, jacaranda tree, Oom Koos, Tant Sannie, Reverend Gilbert (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This novel about life in South Africa is sure to give readers a better understanding of what lies behind the newspaper headlines and TV stories. Tengo is the 10-year-old son of workers on Oom Koos's large farm in the Transvaal. He longs to go to school like his friend Frikkie, who visits his uncle's farm on holidays. But Tengo's family is too poor to pay for the education that comes free to whites. He finally gets his wish at age 14. Tengo goes to live with his cousin in a squalid township outside Johannesburg and studies furiously. After three years, he is almost ready for college, but a year-long school boycott ruins his chances and he is drawn into the fight against apartheid. When he and Frikkie meet in a violent confrontation, Tengo realizes that he will carry on the struggle for freedom as a scholar, not a soldier. The writing here is powerful, evoking in minute detail daily life and the broad landscapes of the country. But the subtle implication throughout is that readers should resent and grow to hate the whites for not seeing what we can see through our "enlightened" eyes: the unfair ways that blacks are viewed and treated. The reader is sometimes too aware that Gordon has manipulated the plot to make her point. But the point is well made nonetheless; this is a persuasive statement about the ongoing tragedy of South Africa. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9 Ever since he can remember, Tengo, a young black boy whose parents are a housemaid and a boss-boy on an Afrikaans farm in South Africa, has wanted to read. Ever since he can remember, Frikkie, nephew of the white owner, has loved the farm more than anything else in the world except for Tengohis dear friendand never wants his idyllic life to change. Of course, it must. As Tengo grows up, he begins to realize the inequities of a system like apartheid that keeps him shackled to ignorance and gives Frikkie, somewhat of a gentle clod, a free and fine education. Through the efforts of his aunt's liberal employers, he is at last able to leave the farm and go to school in the city. Frikkie, who cannot understand why Tengo is not happy looking forward to a future of servitude like his parents, begins his Army service at the same time that Tengo finds his educational goals threatened by increasing militance among black students. Wanting desperately to finish school rather than strike against the educational system, and knowing that his duty is also to disdain that system, Tengo's involvement is accidental and terrifying as incidents of militancy escalate and the Army arrives to quell disturbances. In a coincidental and bloody confrontation with Frikkie, the two enemies, once friends, become symbols of the tragic dilemma of South Africa. The trouble with this book is that the characters become symbols rather than people. Neither Tengo (who is too good to be true), Frikkie, nor anyone else engages readers' sympathies because each is a vehicle for the sober messages that Gordon wishes to deliver, messages that are terribly important but that make for didacticism rather than compassion. The final coincidence weakens the plot further. Still, young readers need every shred of message they can get, and if the book is disappointing as a story, it has its place as a polemic. Marjorie Lewis, Scarsdale Junior High School, N.Y.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 214 pages
• Publisher: Laurel Leaf (October 6, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440226988
• ISBN-13: 978-0440226987
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #434,724 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A story about two boys trying to stay friends, May 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Waiting for the Rain: A Novel of South Africa (Library Binding)

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.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Waiting For The Rain, April 1, 2001

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Waiting for the Rain (Paperback)

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?

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, March 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

"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.