Sugar Town Queens

Name: Sugar Town Queens
Brand: Allen & Unwin
SKU: 9781760526832
Price: 21.0 NZD
Availability: InStock

By Malla Nunn

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4.02

( 805 ratings, 192 reviews)

Summary

Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn is a gripping young adult novel set in South Africa. It follows Amandla, a mixed-race teenager who uncovers her family's hidden secrets while confronting societal divides. As Amandla and her friends unravel these mysteries, they navigate issues of identity and belonging, all set against the vibrant backdrop of Sugar Town.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$21⁰⁰

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Sugar Town Queens

$21⁰⁰

Elsewhere:

~~$22⁹⁹~~

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

You might enjoy this book if you're drawn to stories about self-discovery and family secrets intertwined with social issues. Set in South Africa, it follows a young girl navigating complex relationships and unraveling mysteries around her mother's past. With its vivid setting and engaging narrative, it appeals to readers who appreciate rich cultural contexts and young adult fiction with depth.

Sugar Town Queens

From the award-winning author of the CBCA shortlisted When the Ground Is Hard, comes a stunning portrait of a family divided and an uplifting story of how friendship saves and heals.

Description

Notable Book: 2022 CBCA Book of the Year, Older Readers

Fifteen-year-old Amandla's mother has always been strange. For starters, she's a white woman living in Sugar Town, one of South Africa's infamous shanty towns. She won't tell anyone, not even Amandla, about her past. She has visions, including ones that promise the return of Amandla's father as if he were a prince in a fairytale, but their hardscrabble life is no fairytale.

Amandla knows her father is long gone — since before Amandla was born — and she's pretty sure he's not a prince. He's just another mystery and missing piece of her mother's past, and one of the many reasons people in Sugar Town give them strange looks — that and the fact that Amandla is black and her mother is not.

Lately, her mother has been acting even more strangely, so when Amandla finds a mysterious address at the bottom of her mother's purse along with a large amount of cash, she decides it's finally time to get answers about her mother's life. With her best friends by her side, Amandla is ready to take on the devil himself, and as she confronts devastating family secrets and pain that has lasted a generation, taking on the devil is exactly what she must do.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Sugar Town Queens by Malla Nunn is praised for its beautiful writing and rich characterisation. Reviewers highlight its exploration of race, class, family, and patriarchy in modern South Africa, using a powerful narrative about friendship and three generations of women confronting prejudice. The blend of Zulu culture, tradition, and the complex post-Mandela South African landscape makes it both engaging and informative, while its dynamic cast and compelling plot maintain reader interest. The book's themes of community, identity, and resilience resonate strongly throughout the story.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781760526832

Publisher: A&U Children's

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 03 August 2021

Country: Australia

Imprint: A&U Children

Audience: Teenage

DIMENSIONS

Width: 128.0mm

Height: 198.0mm

Weight: 273g

Pages: 312

Collections

Children's Fiction Children’s, Teenage and Educational Fiction Malla Nunn Young Adult

About the Author

Born and raised in Swaziland on the far edges of the British Empire, Malla Nunn attended a boarding school specially set up for 'mixed race' children. The students at the school spent their time learning the Bible, breaking the rules, and then lying about it. In common with most colonial institutions, stealing, fighting, and violence were common. It was in this charged atmosphere that Nunn developed a fascination with bad behaviour, risk and punishment.

After her family migrated to Australia to escape apartheid, Nunn graduated with a double degree in English and History and then earned a Master of Arts in Theater Studies from Villanova University. Faced with a life of chronic under-employment, she dabbled in acting and screenwriting. She wrote and directed three award-winning films, including Servant of the Ancestors, which won Best Documentary awards at film festivals in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Zanzibar, and was shown on national television in Australia. She married in a traditional Swazi ceremony. Her bride price was eighteen cows. She now lives and works in a weatherboard house with a tin roof and an olive tree in the garden in Sydney, Australia.

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When the Ground Is Hard

By Malla Nunn

Paperback

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