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    Gogo's Song
    Gogo's Song
    Gogo's Song
    Ebook78 pages1 hour

    Gogo's Song

    By David R. Donald

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    It is often interesting to know why an author chose to write a particular story.
    First, in order for me to explain this reason, I need to tell you a little about my background. I have worked as a teacher, then as a child psychologist in schools, and finally as a lecturer and professor of Educational Psychology in universities.
    It is only since my retirement some twelve years ago that I had the time to start writing stories for both young children and older adolescents. Because of my professional background - and particular interest in reading development - all my published short stories and novels have an underlying purpose. And that purpose is to bring to young people reading material that is not only interesting and that they can relate to their personal lives, but also carries with it something that could be useful in their psychological development.
    All of my three novels in this Xlibris Corporation series (see the relevant titles of the other two novels below) have an underlying developmental theme and purpose. And this is to provide stories that I hope may help young people deal with the painful feelings and practical difficulties that always have to be faced when someone has lost a loved one.
    Perhaps even more important, each of the stories also tells, in its own way, how the main character overcomes and rises above his or her grief and difficulties. In each case, this recovery comes not only from the help and support of one or more friends, relatives, neighbours and teachers but also, significantly, from the determination and courage of each of the main characters.
    In order to help you relate these important elements to your own life and perhaps to the lives of other young people whom you may know, I have added two short sections at the end of each book. The first provides you with a number of Questions to think about and the second with a few carefully chosen Activities for you to undertake. Even though it may take a little effort, please follow through on both of the above elements as they will most definitely help you get the most out of each story.
    Second, I believe that an author of any fictional story needs to be personally familiar with the place as well as the language* and culture of the people who live there. Without this element, the story will simply not feel authentic or real to any reader wherever they happen to live in the world.
    My hope, again, is that this will be true for you.

    *In each of my three novels, I have a list at the end of the novel of the English translations, and a guide to the pronunciation of those important names, words and phrases in the indigenous languages that I have chosen to use in the respective novels. I think this may contribute to the authenticity of the stories as you read them. I hope so!

    The titles of my other two novels in this Xlibris Corporation series are: I am Thabeka and Woza Thabo!
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherXlibris UK
    Release dateSep 28, 2012
    ISBN9781479710256
    Gogo's Song
    Author

    David R. Donald

    Since his retirement in 2001, David Donald, Emeritus professor of Educational Psychology, has, to date, had 16 fiction books published, excluding 73 translations, focused mainly on a child or youth readership. Each of these individual books provides an engaging story through which such readers can identify with the central character(s) and, in the process, benefit developmentally.

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      Book preview

      Gogo's Song - David R. Donald

      Gogo’s Song

      David R. Donald

      Copyright © 2012 by David R. Donald.

      ISBN:          Softcover                                 978-1-4797-1024-9

                         Ebook                                      978-1-4797-1025-6

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      To order additional copies of this book, contact:

      Xlibris Corporation

      0-800-644-6988

      www.xlibrispublishing.co.uk

      Orders@xlibrispublishing.co.uk

      304407

      Contents

      Introduction

      Chapter 1      Gogo’s comforting song

      Chapter 2      Ntombi’s all too brief time with Mama

      Chapter 3      Ma Hleka’s laugh

      Chapter 4      The cruel thunder storm

      Chapter 5      Ntombi’s pain

      Chapter 6      Farewell to Gogo

      Chapter 7      The long journey

      Chapter 8      A close encounter

      Chapter 9      Ntombi’s life in uncle Malumi’s household

      Chapter 10      The struggle to get to senior school

      Chapter 11      Ntombi’s friend, Nandi—and a hint of first love

      Chapter 12      First love blossoms

      Chapter 13      Ntombi’s final reward

      Introduction

      It is often interesting to know why an author chose to write a particular story.

      First, in order for me to explain this reason, I need to tell you a little about my background. I have worked as a teacher, then as a child psychologist in schools, and finally as a lecturer and professor of Educational Psychology in universities.

      It is only since my retirement some twelve years ago that I had the time to start writing stories for both young children and older adolescents. Because of my professional background—and particular interest in reading development—all my published short stories and novels have an underlying purpose. And that purpose is to bring to young people reading material that is not only interesting and that they can relate to their personal lives, but also carries with it something that could be useful in their psychological development.

      All of my three novels in this Xlibris Corporation series (see the relevant titles of the other two novels below) have an underlying developmental theme and purpose. And this is to provide stories that I hope may help young people deal with the painful feelings and practical difficulties that always have to be faced when someone has lost a loved one.

      Perhaps even more important, each of the stories also tells, in its own way, how the main character overcomes and rises above his or her grief and difficulties. In each case, this recovery comes not only from the help and support of one or more friends, relatives, neighbours and teachers but also, significantly, from the determination and courage of each of the main characters.

      In order to help you relate these important elements to your own life and perhaps to the lives of other young people whom you may know, I have added two short sections at the end of each book. The first provides you with a number of ‘Questions to think about’ and the second with a few carefully chosen ‘Activities’ for you to undertake. Even though it may take a little effort, please follow through on both of the above elements as they will most definitely help you get the most out of each story.

      Second, I believe that an author of any fictional story needs to be personally familiar with the place as well as the language* and culture of the people who live there. Without this element, the story will simply not feel authentic or ‘real’ to any reader wherever they happen to live in the world.

      My hope, again, is that this will be true for you.

      *In each of my three novels, I have a list at the end of the novel of the English translations, and a guide to the pronunciation of those important names, words and phrases in the indigenous languages that I have chosen to use in the respective novels. I think this may contribute to the authenticity of the stories as you read them. I hope so!

      The titles of my other two novels in this Xlibris Corporation series are: I am Thabeka and Woza Thabo!

      Chapter 1

      Gogo’s comforting song

      Ntombi is now a senior nurse. She lives in eThekweni and drives her own car to and from the big hospital where she works. Her life is good, but the path she has trodden to get here has not always been easy.

      This is her story.

      Ntombi was born below the great, towering Khahlamba mountains in KwaZulu-Natal. Her mother had never married so she had never even known her father.

      Ntombi and her mother lived with ‘Gogo’, her grandmother, in a small house on the very top of a

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