The Chrysalis

by Andrew Salomon

This youth novel is approved for Gr 9 HL on the national DBE Gr 7-9 CAPS catalogue.

Michael is still reeling after the death of his father. Then he discovers secret photos that his father took of a strange building that Michael nicknames “The Chrysalis”. Sensing a mystery, Michael sets off to find the building. Along the way, he befriends Alana, who rides a yellow scooter, and Oscar, a skateboarder with reptiles as pets. They help him in his quest to unlock the secrets around his father’s death and find a family treasure. But he is not the only one looking for the treasure. Gregoire Wulf, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, is also on the trail…

To help you while reading this novel, use:
• the notes on the side of the page to understand the story better
• the footnotes to explain words that might be new to you
• the activities to explore the plot, characters, themes and style of the story.

Genres: School

96 pages

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Andrew Salomon has received the PEN Literary Award for African Fiction and the Short.Sharp.Stories Award. His debut novel, now titled ‘Tokoloshe Song’ was shortlisted for the Terry Pratchett First Novel Award and his short fiction has been shortlisted for the Commonwealth Short Story Prize. He is the author of the Young Adult thrillers ‘The Chrysalis’ and ‘Wonderbear,’ the dark fantasy thriller ‘The Equilibrist,’ and a speculative fiction short story collection ‘Dark Shenanigans.’ He completed an MA at the Institute for Archaeology at University College London and some of his most memorable experiences have been at rock painting and engraving sites in rock shelters and subterranean caves across the world. These often find their way into his fiction. He lives in Cape Town with his wife, two young sons and a pair of rescue dogs of baffling provenance. His website can be found at: www.andrewsalomon.com and his Amazon Author Page can be viewed at: https://www.amazon.com/author/andrews...

Reviews

[NiceGuyNick · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is silly and full of deus ex machinas which is not what a book should be. The story contradicts itself a lot and sometimes the story does not make any sense and you question why characters do the things they do. I got a headache from reading this book. Although this book does give me a headache I have to give props to the author for their ability to build suspense, that was the only thing I liked in this book. I feel like this book could work if instead Michael's father was connected, Michael could maybe be in the Wulf family and Max Wulf could have been his grandpa or something. While reading this book I was questioning why Alana and Oscar would help Michael. He barely did anything for them and maybe they just nice people, but if some random kid came up to me asking for help to find some family treasure that might not even exist I would not help unless he helped me with something, and then still I would not do it. Alana and Oscar put their lives and freedom on the line, and for what. Spoilers ahead. At the end of the book, we find out that all of this running around that the treasure was some kind of storybook that Max Wulf wrote. Think about it, Michael, Alana, and Oscar risked their lives and their freedom for a book. A book! I kind of get what the author was going for with the whole " There is nothing more important than family" cliche, but if Michael did not have to literally swim through shark-infested water and almost get run over by a car for a book, I would have been more lenient with this review. Going back to the point of Deus ex machinas, at the end of Chapter 15, Gregoire pulls a gun on children, but I guess that can be "excused" because he did kill his own brother, but the problem I have with this scene is that Michael overpowers Gregoire, a grown man. The book says that Michael did rugby and exercised or something but he overpowers a grown man, and I am just dumbfounded by this. It is like he got a burst of strength or something. Anyways I am done with this review, I know this review might be silly but I just wanted to voice my concerns.

[Bontle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a nice book

[Kummie Naidu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unble to open book to read

[Nomvuyo · Rating 1 out of 5]

How can I read the books