A shining star (Grade8)

I live in Alex. It’s a place that never sleeps. Cops, nurses and lovers live here, foreigners from war-torn countries, and the unemployed brothers of mothers. It’s everything to me, my mother and father, my auntie and my uncle. The only other place I could live – is space. Dudu, a lively 15-year-old, lives with her mom in Alexandra township. “I’m not pale enough to be white, and not brown enough to be black. Call me difficult, everyone else does,” says Dudu. She and her best friend S’bu share an interest in astronomy, standing together against the teasing of their classmates. She persuades S’bu to help her search for her father, who disappeared back to Europe before she was born. Meanwhile, tensions are mounting in Alex. Foreignersare being targeted, and Dudu’s heritage makes her one of the scapegoats. Violence erupts. As Dudu, her mother and S’bu are forced to stand up for their beliefs, they realise the importance of the ties that bind them all.