Some of the best authors have not written children’s stories but great stories for grown ups (Alas). Lauren Beukes wrote an amazing novel this year called Zoo City, which features different animals and the best one of all was a Sloth. Today she is graciously coming along to do story time for us and she will be reading Sloth stories for us! Yeah, well, the sloths are excited, even if they don’t show it.

Sam Campbell is barely surviving, focusing all her energy on raising her sister Melissa’s son, Khaya. Melissa died in a car accident near their family farm, Cedar Hills, in the Baviaanskloof area. Sam hasn’t forgiven Khaya’s father, Dylan, for leaving her to cope with Khaya to follow up his vague claims about searching for Melissa’s murderer. But now the future of Cedar Hills and the farms in the area are in question after a successful land claim by the family of Sam’s one time childhood friend, and a bid by the Department of environment to buy the land for a biosphere reserve. Whether she wants to or not, Sam will have to face her past.

At the same time James McIntyre is writing his confession about his role in Melissa’s death. They met when, as an American biochemical researcher carrying out a study of powdered milk formula for babies for a company called NuGrowth, he visits the clinic where Melissa is working. When James sees Melissa, he knows that he must win her heart at all costs – and to do this, he must do all he can to conceal from her the true nature of his research.

 

Published by NB. 

One of the most famous elephant families of all times must be Babar and his family. Today we will be reading some of these old classic stories by Jean de Brunhoff. Children's classics are like snuggling with a blanket, total comfort reading.

As a young boy, Stephen always felt different from his friends – he was smaller, less self-assured and often sickly. He struggled with classroom learning and school sports. Only as a shy, embarrassed ‘sixteen-year-old with the body of a boy of ten’ was Stephen diagnosed with Klinefelter’s syndrome, a medical disorder resulting from his cells having one X chromosome more than is normal for males. Symptoms of the condition include small testicles, resulting in sterility; gynaecomastia, the enlargement of the breasts; low energy levels and self-esteem; communication and learning difficulties; developmental delays; and decreased libido, among many others. With appropriate treatment, Stephen’s body began to develop into that of a man and he felt able to embark on a ‘normal’ life, one that included girlfriends, marriage and a career. Many uphill battles later, Stephen reached a point of spiritual strength from which he could begin to tell his story. Living with my X is a unique and deeply personal account of a man living in the shadow of a genetic condition that is less rare than one thinks. Between 1 in 500 and 1 in 1 000 men are born with an ‘extra’ X chromosome. The symptoms associated with this vary widely. Although many men remain entirely unaware of their additional X chromosome, and few boys who have it go on to develop Klinefelter’s syn-drome, Stephen was one of those who did.

 

Published by Struik at Random House.

Given the history of political violence in South Africa, extremely high levels of violence against women and children and the prevalence of violent crime, South Africa has the unfortunate distinction of being considered a real life laboratory in which to study traumatic stress. Taking both a historical and contemporary perspective, the book covers the extent of and manner in which traumatic stress manifests, including the way in which exposure to such extremely threatening events impacts on people’s meaning and belief systems.

This book deals with the topic of traumatic stress from a number of angles. Traumatic stress, and posttraumatic stress more particularly, has gained international prominence as a condition or disorder that affects people across the globe in the wake of exposure to extreme life events, be these collective or individual.

 

 Therapeutic and community strategies for addressing and healing the effects of trauma exposure are comprehensively covered, as well as the particular needs of traumatised children and adolescents. Illustrative case material is used to render ideas accessible and engaging.

 

The book also provides a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of theory and practice in the field of traumatic stress studies, incorporating both international and South African specific findings. The particular value of the text lies in the integration of global and local material and attention to context related challenges, such as how trauma presentation and intervention is coloured by cultural systems and class disparities.

 

The book also highlights both psychological and sociopolitical dimensions of traumatic stress.

 

Debra Kaminer is a senior lecturer in the Psychology Department at the University of Cape Town. Gillian Eagle is a professor and Head of Psychology at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.

 

Published by Wits University Press

 

Two young undercover geniuses, Professor Jody and Doctor Helen, are two brainy scientists who would like to tell you all about the weird and wonderful world of all things scientific. What equals when is divided by Saturday fun! Lab coats not compulsory.

What more can we say than today is WHERE'S WALLY day! Come dressed up as Wally and do your best to try and find him....