Description
A CBC Spring 2024 Showcase Selection
In the final years of South Africa's Apartheid era, an unlikely trio-a sheltered white rugby player, a black farmworker's son, and an Indian shopkeeper's daughter-discover the consequences of knowing the truth and having the courage to speak it. Halley's Comet is the coming-of-age story of Pete de Lange, a white 16-year-old schoolboy, set in small-town South Africa in 1986. Pete lives a relatively sheltered life, primarily concerned with girls and rugby- until one January night changes everything. Thrust together with two complete strangers-Petrus, a black farmworker's son and Sarita, an Indian shopkeeper's daughter-the trio find themselves running for their lives from the vicious Rudie, whose actions will ripple far beyond that fateful night. This era-defying friendship-sparked by a shared secret- challenges everything Pete thought he knew and believed. And when anti-Apartheid revolutionaries set their sights on the town, it will change the course of the three young people's lives forever. Halley's Comet is a story of friendship, love, change, taking chances, hope, a comet, and some pretty cool 80s music.
300 review copies (150 prepub, 150 postpub) sent to reviewers, booksellers, librarians, bloggers, others. Available as an e-ARC on Edelweiss. Blog tour with book giveaways. Goodreads giveaway. We will seek features and reviews from newspapers, magazines, and journals. We will create a reading guide for book clubs and others interested in reading the book in a group setting. The reading guide will be printed in the book and will include a Q&A with the author. We will seek out book clubs who are interested in the book and offer the chance to win a SKYPE visit with the author. Promotion at book fairs and trade shows--ALA annual, ALA mid-winter, African Studies Association, etc. We will submit the book for all relevant awards. Promotion online via Catalyst's website, email newsletter, and social media (blog, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube) with author and publisher interviews, chats, and guest posts. Simultaneous e-book and print release. Readers Guide available.
About the Author
Hannes Barnard is a South African-born multi-genre author of both English and Afrikaans novels. He debuted in 2019 with the YA novel, Halley se komeet, which he translated into English as Halley's Comet. In 2020, Wolk, his apocalyptic YA adventure was released, and coming up in 2022 is his crime novel, die wet van Gauteng. When not writing, traveling, or planning his next adventure, Hannes works in marketing. He has called England and Seychelles home but now lives in Johannesburg with his wife.
Reviews
"This novel, about the slow blooming of love and friendship in a dusty mining town in South Africa made me think of a tough little weed that grows between concrete: it's tenacious, defiant and hopeful. It's also a cracking good story." - Bridget Krone, author of Small Mercies
"A thrilling, tension-filled story of friendship, love, radicalism, and justice that will resonate with many readers" -Kirkus Reviews
"With a sprinkling of the original Afrikaans and countless contextual details - places, brands, music in the background, food, drink, and of course the search for Halley's Comet itself - Barnard transports readers back to a specific period in time, one that may be familiar to older readers who were teenagers looking for Halley's Comet themselves, or one that young adults today can explore and reflect on for the first time. This YA story is a crossover novel that is bound to stay with readers - young and old - long after they finish it!" - World Kid Lit Blog
"5 Works of World Literature for Teen Readers" -Kirkus
Book Information
ISBN 9781946395559
Author Hannes Barnard
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint Catalyst Books
Publisher Catalyst Books
