Waiting for the Rain

Childhood friends, Frikkie and Tengo, draw apart as Tengo leaves the farm owned by Frikkie's father to attend school in a black township. Their differences develop further in adolescence when Frikkie joins the army and Tengo becomes increasingly aware of the social injustice which is part of everyday life. The end of the book, in a situation of increasing violence, brings them briefly and unexpectedly together. The carefully-handled tension and sensitive characterisation will make this an absorbing book for discerning teenage readers.