Know my Name

Refiloe Moahloli

Description

Rorisang and her twin brother Mo must start the school year at a new school after their mom decides that the family needs to get out of their comfort zone. The twins have attended the school across the road since they were toddlers. All their friends are there, and their dad is best friends with the headmaster. The new school is far from their house, the extramural activities that are on offer are unfamiliar and the ones that Rorisang used to excel at in her old school is dominated by kids far better than her. Luckily Rorisang makes new friends quickly, learns to play softball and performs a praise poem at the Eisteddfod. She even survives the long trips in the car with her pest of a brother! A heartwarming story that celebrates family and friendship and finding your voice amidst change. The book is also available in isiZulu and Afrikaans.

Sujets

• Juvenilee Fiction
• General officer
• General
• Fiction Jeunesse

Informations

• Publié par: Pan Macmillan South Africa
• Date de parution: 31 août 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781776250738
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Pan Macmillan Children’s Books
www.panmacmillan.co.za


The names in this story and their meaning
Alicia : Nobility
Anusha : Beautiful morning
Aviwe : They have been heard
Ayesha : Lively
Banzi : Wide
Caster : Beaver
Evan : God is gracious
Evelyn : Life
Isla : Island
Jacob : To follow
Leila : Night
Lerato : Love
Ludo : Light
Matthew : Gift of God
Morena : King
Noelene : Christmas
Pravesh : Entrance
Ratu (Moratuwa) : My love
Rorisang : Praise
Solomzi : One who watches over the home
Sbu (Sibusiso) : Blessing
Takalani : Be happy
Thato : Will
Yolisa : Make happy
Yusuf : One that increases


Chapter 1
Moving schools
It is the last day of the school year at Parkwood Primary. Our principal, Mr Pope, has everyone giggling at the final assembly. He loves telling jokes.
First, he hands out certificates to the kids who have done well in academics, sport and culture during the past year. Once everyone has taken their places again, he says, ‘And now for some unusual awards to start off the December holidays with a laugh.’ Mr Pope looks giddy behind the podium on stage as he announces, ‘The prize for most likely but unlikely to get to school on time goes to ... Rorisang and Morena “Mo” Ngam!’
His standing joke this year has been about us – the Ngam twins – who use the school bell as our morning alarm. He always gets laughs for that, especially from Papa. We live opposite the school, you see. We have been going there since we were three years old, and Papa still had to carry us to school.
Everyone knows about the Ngam twins. We’re kind of famous.
When we get home that afternoon, I tell Mama and Papa about the award we won.

Mama is not impressed. ‘Rorisang, you and your brother are not taking school seriously enough. You are in too much of a comfort zone,’ she says. Then she turns to face Papa. ‘You too, Banzi. You’re too friendly with that man to notice he thinks everything is a joke.’
Papa and Mr Pope are friends and they are too tight for our liking. Papa once saw Mr Pope in a Kaizer Chiefs jersey on civvies day and apparently that was enough to start up a friendship. It’s been so weird bumping into Papa at school every now and again, thinking I’m in some kind of trouble – only to find out he was ‘just catching up’ with Mr Pope. What could they possibly be catching up about? Surely there is only so much you can say about soccer?
‘Enough is enough!’ declares Mama. She has been threatening for years that she’s going to send us to another school. This time she sounds serious.
Mo and I state our usual objections.
‘But, Mama, we’re happy here!’ I plead.
‘You save money on petrol, Mama, because we walk to school!’ Mo adds.
‘We have so many friends, Mama, we’re famous!’ I say.
‘It’s more like infamous, Rorisang,’ Mama responds. ‘The fact that the principal makes jokes about you is not a good thing, and that he has something to joke about is even worse.’ She folds her arms and looks at us sternly. ‘Parkwood Primary is like an old pair of shoes,’ she says. ‘It is tight, stinky and slippery because the rubber sole is worn out. Instead of cutting out a hole so the big toe can still fit, you should get new shoes.’
It’s clear that Mama has made up her mind. The last day of the school year was also our last day ever at Parkwood Primary.
It’s official, we are moving schools.


Chapter 2
The Cradle way
The December holidays were not quite the same after that. I woke up every morning with knots in my tummy. Even on Christmas day. Even on the days I went for sleepovers at my cousin’s house. And the days I hung out with my bestie, Thato – even then.
On the first day at our new school, the knots felt their worst.
‘A new year, a fresh new beginning,’ says Mama in the car on our way there.
Mo and I groan.
The Cradle was once a farm school, so it’s a little bit out of town. It still has the look of a farm with its flat buildings and low rooftops.
Just before we enter the gate there is a part where the tar road ends and we hit gravel. The rough sound the tyres make reminds me of our trips to Gogo’s home in the Eastern Cape.
Mrs Maake, the principal, meets us in the foyer of the school offices. She has the longest dreadlocks I have ever seen in my life, and wears them in plaits all the way down her back. She looks more like an artist than a principal.
She leads us into the school hall and gives us a tour. ‘There are three houses at The Cradle,’ she informs us. ‘Terra, Aqua and Ignis. I have placed both of you in Ignis.’

The walls around us are painted in the house colours: the earth brown of Terra, the water blue of Aqua and the orange of the Ignis fire.
‘Competition amongst the houses is fierce,’ Mrs Maake continues. ‘Points are given for excellence, but points can also be taken away by a demerit. You can get a demerit, for example, if you arrive late in the morning.’ As she says this, she and Mama exchange knowing looks.
The knots in my tummy keep twisting. I worry if I’ll make friends here. What if everyone already has their own bestie?
Thato and I have been friends since we were in grade 1. We know EVERYTHING about each other! We like the same music, we wear the same clothes, we make the same jokes – she GETS me.

Mrs Maake tells us more about The Cradle until she drops us off at our homeroom class.
Our teacher, Ms Khozi, looks young – like an older sister. She seems cool, until she puts us on the spot before we even sit down.
‘Settle down, settle down, class! We have newcomers in our midst,’ Ms Khozi announces, and gestures towards us. ‘Please come to the front and introduce yourselves.’
I go first, even though I never know what to say when someone asks me to introduce myself.
‘My name is Rorisang, but you can call me Rori,’ I say. ‘And I’m a twin.’ People usually find the twin thing interesting.
‘Rorisaaaaaaaang!’ Ms Khozi sings. ‘Such a beautiful name. Names are not given to us by accident, you know.’
Rorisang means praise in Sesotho. Mo’s full name is Morena and it means king. He is five minutes older than me. He likes to narrate the story of our birth as the day a young king was born and his sister followed to praise him. Every birthday I have to hear him tell the same annoying story. I really wish my parents had thought our names through before giving them to us.
After our introductions, Ms Khozi makes the entire class stand up from their seats. They have to get up, one by one, so we can learn their names too.
I feel a little better after that – at least we are not the only ones being put on the spot.
Isla and Ayesha come up to me after class. ‘Hi, Rori, you can sit with us at break,’ they say in chorus.
As soon as they do, the hotness I've been feeling in my face starts to cool down.