The lady with the purple eye

 Francois Bloemhof

 Writer: Lauren Snyders

Photos and Design: Jill and Sivu

Brother and sister, Chris and Marley arrive at a new school; excited, they quickly make friends. In the beginning everything about their friends and the school seems normal, nothing seems amiss.But Chris’s curiosity is roused by the strange acting boy without hair and the lady in the library with the purple eye. At first none of their friends notice anything sinister, until one day they all come to school without hair.Chris decides to embark on his own investigation and Marley, against her better judgement, decides to help her brother. What they discover will change their lives and the lives of those others around them forever.I think this thriller is a really good book for 10 to 14 year olds and the author really has a vivid imagination. Although The Lady with the Purple Eye is not my kind of book I couldn’t put it down and I’m sure many of you will enjoy it too.

 Signed, Hopelessly in Love 

 Lauri Kubuitstile     

Writer: Cristle Mokwape

Photos and Designers: Jill Harris and Sivuyile Mntuyedwa   

When Amo is asked to run the agony column for her school newspaper she is insulted. She sees herself as a serious journalist and she’s written a hard-hitting news article, “Do prefects get more meat?”She believes that one day, because of her finely-tuned investigative skills, she’ll be world famous for uncovering important news stories.She can’t be Aunt Lulu. It’s not journalism, it’s fluff!But when an anonymous letter arrives from “Hopelessly, in love” Amo is sure she knows who the writer is and she is even more certain he is writing about her.Signed, Hopelessly in Love has a cast of raucously funny characters and Lauri Kubuitstile has a cool way of bringing them to life. If you love reading, you’ll finish this one in one day.  One problem though, you might struggle with pronouncing the Sotho names.

Swallow

Sefi Atta

Writer: Lauren Snyders

Photos and Design: Jill and Sivu

 Swallow is a heart breaking story by Sefi Atta about two women, Tolani and Rose, trying to live their lives as best as they can under difficult circumstances in present day Nigeria.The two friends are employed by a bank in Lagos; Tolani works on the second floor in the loans division and Rose works on the ground floor by the cash and teller department. They work hard to survive but things don’t always go as planned.In an unfortunate and unexpected turn of events, Rose is fired and Tolani gets her job. This all seems as though it was deliberate but it’s not.Further, Rose and Tolani meet a shady character at the market place who buys Rose a pair of shoes. Tolani’s instincts tell her that this man, OC, is no good for Rose, but Rose insists that her friend is jealous because her own relationship is not working as well as she would like.Tolani is anxious to get married but her fiancé seems to be stalling. So will Tolani get married and will Rose come to her senses?