Young Blood

by Sifiso Mzobe

13 Tage vor seinem 17. Geburtstag schmeißt Sipho die Schule, weil er auf keinen grünen Zweig mehr kommt. Viel lieber hilft er seinem Vater, der im Hof Autos repariert. Sipho ist clever und hat ein Händchen für Motoren, er tunt sie wie kein anderer. Und er träumt vom "Heiligen Gral", einem BMW 325is. Mit genau diesem Schlitten und in teuren Markenklamotten taucht Siphos alter Kumpel Musa an seinem Geburtstag in der Township auf. Ein Jahr lang war er in Johennesburg, wo er von Ladendieben und Autoknackern gelernt hat, wie man schnelles Geld macht. Jetzt ist er zurück in Umlazi und hat für Sipho ein heißes Programm für die Nacht organisiert. Mit Mädchen, Gras uns Whisky - und einem sagenhaften Jobangebot: Sipho und sein Freund Vusi - ein Schrauber wie er - sollen eine ganze Liste vorbestellter Luxuskarossen stehlen. Mit dem Lohn würden sie sich endlich ihre Wünsche erfüllen können. Alles lässt sich gut an, Siphos "richtiges" Leben beginnt und gleicht einer endlosen Party! Die Beziehung zu seiner Freundin Nana allerdings, die noch zur Schule geht und ihn wirklich liebt, wird auf eine harte Probe gestellt, als das Mädchen erfährt, wie Sipho sein Geld verdient. Als er sich dann mit einer extrem ruchlosen Gang einlässt, um das ganz große Geschäft zu machen, laufen die Dinge plötzlich komplett aus dem Ruder.

Genres: Africa, Fiction, South Africa, Young Adult, Crime, African Literature, Mystery

280 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2011

About the author

Sifiso Mzobe was born in Umlazi Township, Durban.

His debut novel, Young Blood, won the Sunday Times Fiction Prize and the Herman Charles Bosman Prize for Literature in 2011.

Reviews

[Puleng Hopper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Blood relates of the fate that befalls many teenage boys in apartheid township reserves across South Africa. The setting is mainly in M Section Umlazi Durban and sorounding areas.

Sipho, the protagonist drops out of high school
. On page 9, he pleads with his mom " You see my reports; there is not one subject I pass. I can't do anything right in school. Everyday I go there it's like a part of me dies, Ma"

A great soccer player. At 17 Sipho is already experimenting with cigarettes, weed and beer. His motor mechanic skills , and his advanced driving skills are his ticket to a fast life of crime, debauchery, violence, gangsterism, guns, drugs, easy money, expensive alcohol and brand clothes. Some of his counter parts do not come out alive. Will Sipho's fate be any different?

I loved how Young Blood is also a story of friendship, love, family and community. Sipho loved his girl friend Nana intensely "Nana carved herself a new chamber in my heart. The first real love of my life" page 134.

A unique type of crime fiction that does not follow the conventional script of many crime fiction. It does not boast your typical hero and villain. It is fresh. It is related in an uncomplicated , free flowing and innocent nature, synonymous to qualities of its teenage main character.

This multi layered debut by journalist and author Mzobe comes highly recommended. It has bagged 4 well deserved literary awards.

The propensity to succumb to peer pressure and to be overwhelmed by the environment is a global phenomenon amongst teenagers. Young Blood relates of scenarios that South Africans at large will resonate with.

[Nicky Ramarumo]

Excellent. Reflection of how peer pressure forces our youth to commit crime. They want to be seen driving big cars and wearing fancy clothes and they will do anything to get them. Scary.....

[Barbara Heckendorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book about life and violence in a Durban township. A young man who breaks off school because it does not make sense to him and he is overwhelmed with the material comes through friends in the dark criminal machinations that brings a township so with it. His father earns little money in a fair way by mending cars. Sipho has learned this craft from his father, but he wants to get quickly to much money for his reputation to increase. At the beginning, everything is going according to plan and he does not see any big danger for him. Fortunately, he has good friends who watch over him like guardian angels. Only thanks to them he survives and comes out of the criminal milieu after many adventurous actions, during which he earned a lot of money, even if he loses it in the end.
Sifiso Mzobe tells so realistically that you as a reader have the feeling of being in the middle of it. You realize that he wishes his main character only the best, so he finds out unscathed from the mess.

[Jayne Bauling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book that grabs the reader from the outset. It’s real and raw, with instantly recognisable characters and situations.
The focus is on township youth in KZN who have dropped out of school for the love of money, impatient to sample the material trappings that shout success – the clothes, the expensive alcohol, the drugs, and above all in this story, the cars. Sipho is the son of a backyard mechanic, and we follow his journey into crime during the year he turns seventeen.
The effortless writing style moves this novel along at a rapid pace. Excellent and absorbing reading.

[Ashley Jacobs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast-paced and absorbing read. Quite scary considering the proximity to where I live!

[Carolien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very South African coming of age novel. Set in Umlazi township, it recounts the story of Sipho who drops out of school and meets up with a friend who is back from Johannesburg. His skills as a car mechanic and driver provide an introduction to the world of car hijackings, drug dealing and the crime world of Durban.

I enjoyed the author's sparse language. He uses South African slang, but not to such an extent that it inhibits understanding of the text. He obviously knows life in the Durban townships well. An excellent debut novel.

[Michael Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Blood is set in Umlazi Township in KwaZulu-Natal, and it’s a gritty insider’s view of life there. It’s clear from the strong sense of place that the author knows the township well, and, indeed, it’s where he grew up. At one level, the book reflects the pressures and challenges of life there and in the informal settlements, growing like mushrooms around and within it, where things are even worse. We feel the township all around us and breathe its air.
It’s a coming of age story. It starts when Sipho is 16 and has given up school. It makes no sense to him, and he’s really only interested in motor vehicles and soccer. Musa, his friend from school, is from Power and starts to work with shoplifters. At a certain point, Musa heads to Johannesburg to make his fortune and returns in a flashy BMW. Sipho’s prowess with cars, and mechanical skills make him very attractive to a local car thieving gang, the Cold Hearts. He’s scared to death of them, but the money is seductive. When the money starts to flow, it’s addictive. Girls, drugs, and alcohol. Cars and speed. And then, inevitably, things start to go very wrong.
In a first-person story, voice is crucial. Sipho’s is clear and gripping as we follow him through his 17th year. His relationship with Musa is complex, but it’s there for good or ill, and we accept it without question. This is not an easy book or a cheerful book, but it shows us a real side of life in the townships that can’t be unusual in poor areas as young men try to make their way to success however they can. It’s a landmark in South African crime fiction.

[Mpho Bernadette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit torn writing this review. Sifiso is an excellent writer and I will give him that, but he is not that imaginative. The story is not original, there are many crime stories that have been told before (Jerusalema, Yizo Yizo, Tsotsi to name a few). This is basically the one and only flaw with the book. With that said, he is a great writer. He has a natural, down to earth kind if sense of humor that comes through in his story telling. He is also able to place emotion behind the character's story which easily motivates you to be on the lead's side, despite the fact that he is a criminal. The way he tells Sipho's story, you cannot help but empathize with him. I look forward to reading more of his work and hope that the next story he writes, will be a bit more original.

[Sonja van der Westhuizen | West Words]

Although South African crime writing has mostly been dominated by white writers, a new generation of black writers is emerging and they’re changing the landscape of South African crime fiction with their fresh perspective. One of them is Sifiso Mzobe, a journalist from Umlazi whose debut novel, Young Blood, won numerous awards when it was originally published in South Africa in 2010. Now the US publisher has republished Young Blood as part of its mission to bring a wider audience to writers in South Africa and elsewhere.

Full review on my blog and Crime Fiction Lover: https://westwordsreviews.wordpress.co...

[Xabisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard about this book a few years back , struggled to get it , then finally i got it, I read it in a couple of days due to excitement.I was so obsessed with uSipho i really wanted him to win even though he was living a life of crime( i will leave it there dont want to spoil for those who haven't read it).
All in all wonderful lessons, enjoyed the description of Umlazi and the surrounds (felt like I knew it , even though I have never been.

[Pauline · Rating 4 out of 5]

original and fast. interesting and refreshing.

[Mish Middelmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Powerful, direct, illuminating

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

An awful life, but a well-written book.

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Young Blood is informative and enlightening about the thinking of young township men. Well written and pacy. Look forward to the latest.

[Michael Morrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

No, I don't really "like" it. I admire the skill of the author, including his use of language, but this is a mostly unpleasant book.
According to this book -- and I read the advance review copy, so possibly it's been changed -- South Africa is as immoral, dangerous, violent, and amoral as, say, Chicago, or New York City, or Detroit.
"Amoral" describes the protagonist and his associates, and "immoral" describes so many others in the large cast of characters.
The book fascinates me, and it is the second I've read from a South African publishing company recently.
At a workshop, I met the publisher herself, a charming and interesting woman who looks about 20 years younger than she must be, since she said herself she's been in the book business for many years. She had samples, and most of them were grabbed quickly so I feel very lucky to have managed to get the two I got.
Africa, the continent, has so much potential. It has hordes of people and natural resources, such as minerals, but, even more than these United States, it must overcome various superstitions, including faith in government, most of them being corrupt and/or tyrannical.
Also just as in these United States, illegal drugs are, being illegal, very profitable to sell, so it lures poor people, who see no future, into using them and into selling them.
And as a result, as here, there is, of course, lots of violence.
I've not seen any statistics, but reading "Young Blood" makes me think of the blood-spattered streets of Chicago or Los Angeles. And reading it makes me fear the young people there, perhaps especially the black young people, really will have no future.
"Young Blood" is not pleasant reading, but its author shows skill and talent and the ability to drag his readers into the story, wondering what horrible event will happen next.
The ending seems almost tacked on. There really is no reason to expect what does happen, so I suggest you just grab "Young Blood" by Sifiso Mzobe and find out for yourself.
Let's encourage new and young writers.

[Allyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a South African this book resonates with every day life. Mzobe brings to life the poverty, the need for recognition (being a man) and the lack of future experienced by young men in the township of Umlazi. The novel is disturbing and hard hitting. It is also still relevant even though it was published in 2010. The gangs are still present, the need for prestige and the yen for money to pursue this goal and the women along the way remains a part of life in Umlazi. Following the protagonist Sipho, who desires wealth to be able to have a better lifestyle than his parents, the reader is drawn into the underworld of drug running, car hijacking, racing, money, women and booze. From the shabeen to the expensive and luxurious Northern Coast of Natal, Sipho learns about life as a criminal. His witnessing of cold blooded and pyschopathic killing and his own act of murder is a coming-of-age story that is wholly South African. It is disturbing, it is harsh, but it has a truth and grit to it that far outweighs most coming-of-age literature.

As a first time novel, it is well-written and holds the reader's attention. It is a local South Africa crime novel by a young Black male author, who, himself, lives in Umlazi and who exposes the realities of this township with skill and understanding.

I consider it a good crime read for anyone who would like to experience the underworld life in a South African township.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an extremely enjoyable and light read. I love the characters in the story and coming from the same country and province that this story was written in, really brought the story to life. I must admit, coming from a privileged background as apposed to the characters in the story - I was not aware of, or rather I had blinkers on when it came to the criminals in our country. I assumed that they were just greedy, lazy thugs out to make a quick buck at the expense of others. But the other side of the story is a lot different. Sipho (the main protagonist) is struggling at school and drops out before his 17th birthday. Having failed all his subjects at school, and just being passed through the system - he ends up meeting an old friend of his, who is basically rolling in the money. Due to peer pressure and the lure of a better life for himself and his family, he ends up in a criminal ring that has him stealing cars and getting deeper into the drugs. There I go again - spoiling it for anyone else to read. It is very fast paced and enjoyable read with a local flavour.

[Cordula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sifiso Mzobe takes readers into Umlazi township, Durban and a life of crime, stealing and drugs as experienced by 17-year-old Sipho. Despite growing up in a stable environment (both mother and father are working and while not affluent the family appears to make ends meet), Sipho turns his back on school and instead joins his childhood friend's "make money quick schemes". Very quickly, he becomes enmeshed in gang life and finds himself in over his head.

Sipho is an impressionable young man. While on the cusp of adulthood, he has yet to find his place. This restlessness is also his vulnerability and what draws him into a life of crime. Mzobe's writing in the first person delivers a direct route into the character's life. However, it also lacks some introspection (as you would maybe expect of a 17-year-old). There is a lot of "tell" but not that much "show". While Sipho races from one car theft to another, there is little time spent on processing the situations he finds himself in. This makes the ending rather abrupt and, at least to me, not terribly convincing.

Overall, an interesting read though and surely a word of warning to youths wanting to follow in Sipho's footsteps.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had this book not been part of my syallabus at campus, I would have never picked it up, but to give credit where credit is due, this was a well written book.
Overall Mzobe's book highlights the life of South Africa's youth, especially those growing up in poverty. He shows the reader what life is like for those who cant afford to be patient and wait for a job.
This book is very relevant given that in modern SA many youth are unable to find jobs and resort to a life of crime.
This book would deserve a rating of 3 stars however, I had a hard time reading it due to it not suiting my preferences, therefore I give it 2 stars.

[Mwenya · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book description doesn't do this coming of age story justice. Though rooted in a South African township this story depicts what I've seen many boys in urban areas all over Zambia struggle through or better yet survive.

It was good to read such a visual narrative that reflected so many faces I knew growing up written so well and with such honesty. Putting them as protagonists and antagonists in equal measure.

Loved every word of it even as I dreaded an end I've seen a dozen times in real life.

[Tony Mercer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The life of a young black South African in Umlazi township, Durban, is rendered in vivid detail. The options Sipho faces are rooted in the opposing forces of his strong family heritage and the oppressive systems that built the South African state and economy. A wild ride from start to finish, Sipho faces his family and friends, the legal system, and himself as he drives the freeways of Durban with stolen cars and for the first time, money in his pocket.

[Daniel Polansky]

A young man in a Durban township finds himself caught in an underworld of car theft, drug dealing and death. Energetic and full of lived experience.

[Susan Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 2010 breakthrough novel from Kwela Books has become a set work in several schools in KZN, where the story takes place and the author still lives. It is easy to see why. Mzobe seduces his reader, along with his protagonist, into a world of dolphin-shaped BMWs, Hugo Boss clothing and Johnnie Walker Black.

Sipho, a seventeen year-old high school drop-out from Umlazi, grows tired of helping his father – a backyard mechanic – and enters the world of car theft and drug-dealing. In short, he becomes a “young blood.”

Mzobe, who grew up in Umlazi, has researched meticulously, and gambled on reaching a wider audience by not putting his novel into “township slang.” The gamble succeeds. His book speaks not only to the disillusioned scholars of today who face an uncertain future, but is also relatable to those who live on the fringes of our morally dubious society. For anyone who has been the victim of a hijacking, or knows someone who has died violently, this book tells it like it is – but from the other side. Riveting stuff, not easily put down.

Award-winning Mzobe is extremely erudite, has an eye for detail and an ability to express not only the gnawing conscience in the mind of the impressionable youth at the novel’s core, but has encapsulated, in one volume, an excellent life lesson for readers of a similar age. This is a young, warm-blooded writer who is going places. Watch him soar.

[Nicole Rimensberger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the local flavour of this action-packed book - through it a parallel world was opened up, one of township gangsters and crime. It offers a refreshing and interesting voice in the landscape of South African literature.

The story line follows the typical morality tale where the main character, 17 year old Sipho, drops out of school and is seduced by an apparently easy life of crime (easy money, easy girls -in addition to the steady girlfriend), but things get more and more complicated and dangerous.

It was an easy read - I read it over a weekend - but what is not as easy to process is the morality of whether Sipho deserves the ending or not. That kept me thinking for a bit...

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mzobe writes like Elmore Leonard, the only difference being the South African setting. This book is all about the normalness of crime, how it's passed down from generation to generation in the South African townships. What is terrifying about this book is how little the thoughts and feelings of their victims are taken into account. Violent crime is just normal and everyday. Despite some glaring faults; a car alarm never gets activated and there isn't a Tracking system in any of the cars he steals, Mzobe's main character Sifiso draws you into his story and grips you till the end.

[David Kenvyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is South Africa's answer to Alan Bissett's "Boyracers" except that Umlazi is a far more dangerous place to live than Falkirk. This is the story of a young school dropout who risks a life of car stealing to make money. I am not going to tell you what happens to young Sipho and his friends Musa and Vusi, or his girlfriend Nana but if you want a ride, like a big dipper, then this is the book for you.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ein Junge bricht die Schule ab, macht seine Erfahrungen als Autodieb und wird mit der brutalen Welt des schnellen illegalen Geldbeschaffens konfrontiert. Kann und will er das? Ein Buch, bei dessen Lektüre man den heißen Gummi der bis zum Anschlag beschleunigten Autos riecht und das Herzklopfen von Sipho, dem Ich-Erzähler, der auf sein 17. Lebensjahr zurückblickt, spürt.

[Landile · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant! I've fallen in love with fiction writing again, thanks too Young Blood. Ignites the imagination and takes you on rollercoaster ride of note into Sipho's at times frightening world!!!