Zebra Crossing

The two stars are not because it is badly written but a reflection of my enjoyment of the book. This is not a very uplifting book. The story is about a young Abino girl who with her older brother has escaped from Zimbabwe after they were orphaned. They make it to South Africa in Capetown to stay with their cousins who have also come from Zimbabwe.The book is set at the time of the World Cup Soccer in South Africa and tells how these four try to cope with being migrants in South Africa.It is written in an interesting style as the narrator is Chipo or Tortoise the young albino girl who often picks a word and chooses a word it rhymes with and follows that train of thought.Albino people are regarded differently by different African countries. Some fear them as ghosts while others believe them to be lucky and others would even cut up someone who is albino and sell the bits as tokens !!This is another of those stories that probably has a lot of truth in it and really makes you appreciate being born in the time and place you are. I certainly always feel like that after reading some life experiences and stories like this.I found the end to be quite a shock and I felt really quite upset. I won't say more as it would be a spoiler.

It’s 2009 in Zimbabwe. 17-year-old Chipo is an albino girl used to being abused by other people who call her ghost or ape. She and her older brother George grew up with their mother (a massive Manchester United fan) working in the family bar, but the bar was demolished by the Zimbabwe government and their mother died. When George loses his job working for a general, he decides that they should go to South Africa, believing that with the World Cup due there in 2010 there’ll be more opportunity to make money.In Cape Town they move in with George’s old friends, twins David and Peter but far from being paved with gold, South Africa’s streets are filled with danger for immigrants and when Chipo’s actions bring the group into contact with Dr Ongani, they engage in a get-rich-quick scheme to fleece tourists by using Chipo’s albinism only for the unthinkable to happen …Meg Vandermerwe’s debut literary YA novel focuses on the poverty and danger faced by illegal immigrants in South Africa and the particular horrors saved for those with albinism in a well-crafted novel more concerned with place and character than in providing an event-filled plot. There’s a lot to admire about the novel – Vandermerwe creates a well drawn cast of characters, each with their secrets and sorrows and each doing their best to try and survive in a country where many people don’t want them and see them as taking their jobs. I found Chipo too passive as a character – the only agency she really shows is when she visits Dr Ongani (sinister and suave, a born predator), which is when the horrors really start – but this is partly because of how she’s treated due to her condition, which has left her cowed not least because George constantly tells her how stupid she is. My main quibble with the book actually is the relationship between George and Chipo because there never seems to be any love there, he sees her as a burden and then as a money making scheme but never as a person and I wasn’t convinced by this due to the portrayal of their childhood and the impact of their mother. That said, I enjoyed the build of tension as each character makes compromises and the difficulty of daily life and would definitely read what Vandermerwe writes next.

Set in Zimbabwe and Cape Town in South Africa, 'Zebra Crossing' is a thought-provoking novel set in 2010, when South Africa hosted the World Cup. The protagonist is a teen girl called Chipo, whose mother has died of AIDS, leaving her older brother George to provide for them both. When he runs into trouble at work, they flee to Cape Town, lured by the promise of greater opportunities there. Chipo is an albino, so is subject to prejudice and also at risk of attack for her body parts (prized by witch doctors). Initially they are quite content there, but Chipo becomes tangled up with a charlatan calling himself Dr Ongani, with terrifying results.Informative and thought-provoking, this was a sad but gripping read. The settings were well-realised, and the football backdrop was not overstated. Recommended.

Chipo is a 17-18 year old romantic and day dreamer who grew up in Zimbabwe with her mother and older brother. A policy change meant that the family's fortunes took a downturn and when Chipo's mother grew ill and died, it was up to her brother and her to make their own way in life.On top of the hardship endured when her mother grew ill, Chipo has other odds against her; she's albino - a condition that seemingly exposes her to the worst parts of humanity: fear, superstition and ignorance - and even her own brother often sees her more as a business opportunity than as a sister.When the World Cup closes in on South Africa, Chipo's brother decides that this is a perfect opportunity for the two to get a better life and they make the dangerous journey across the border to SA. Here they team up with friends from home and manage to set up a basic, but safe, household. Unfortunately times are changing as the World Cup draws nearer, and it in this atmosphere of Xenophobia and inter-racial tensions that Chipo's brother and a dangerous new acquaintance concoct a get-rich-quick-scheme which will eventually have fatal consequences.A good first novel with an interesting setting and good writing. There were parts - like Chipo's word associations - which I didn't much care for, but otherwise a good book that describes well the plight of immigrants and the time around the world cup.

"Zebra Crossing" is about a Zimbabwean albino girl, 17, called Chipo, making her way across the border to a new life in South Africa with her older brother George (hence the title with it's black and white zebra crossing reference)."In South Africa there are plenty of jobs. We won't have to crawl on our hands and knees to earn a pittance," says George.But South Africa is not quite the promised land they were hoping for, even with the World Cup seven months away. "Certain nationalities, certain jobs." You need to start from the bottom.Then the trouble starts. "Just you wait. When the World Cup is finished we will drive all you foreigners out! If you stay, you will burn!"So there is a deadline, July 11, to make as much money as possible before fleeing.This is when Doctor Ongani - an enterprising witchdoctor/conman - gets involved. With his "real live albino" he can give you "special extra powerful muti to improve your luck," even when it comes to gambling on the World Cup.Money is good but the consequences are disastrous leading to the unexpected ending.Overall a well-written story that really puts you into the lives of immigrants starting from the bottom in South Africa. If you like this book also try " Now is the Time for Running " which is about two Zimbabwean brothers, one disabled, making a similar journey to South Africa with the theme of football also running through it. Now is the Time for Running