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All for Love
Das Schuljahr ist zu Ende, alle freuen sich auf die Ferien. Da zerstört ein grausamer Mord die südafrikanische Kleinstadtidylle: Wer hat Miss Diko, die junge Lehrerin und Chorleiterin erschlagen? Die Suche nach dem Mörder bringt unbequeme Wahrheiten ans Licht. Wie ein spannender Gesellschaftskrimi liest sich Jenny Robsons Jugendroman um die allgegenwärtige Gefahr von AIDS, um Zivilcourage und die Kraft der Musik.
- GenresAfrica
168 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Jenny Robson
33 books15 followersJennifer Marion Robson (née Murray) is the first author to ever win four consecutive prizes in the Sanlam Youth Novel Competition for the novels Don’t Panic, Mechanic (1994), One Magic Moment (1996), The Denials of Kow-Ten (1998) and Because Pula Means Rain (2000).
Jenny was born and raised in Cape Town. She studied primary school teaching at the Teaching College in Mowbray and went on to study at the University of South Africa (Unisa) where she obtained her B.A. degree in Philosophy.
After two years of teaching in Simons Town, she moved to the diamond-mining town of Orapa in Botswana. She taught music there at Livingstone House for over thirty years. Jenny now lives in Maun in Botswana where she still teaches music. She is widowed and has two adult sons who live in London, UK.
Jenny loves writing for young people as she admires their spontaneity and lack of hypocrisy. Her favourite theme in her books is the utter uniqueness of the individual. She hates any form of stereotyping and sees every individual as a “never to be repeated entity.”
Jenny was born and raised in Cape Town. She studied primary school teaching at the Teaching College in Mowbray and went on to study at the University of South Africa (Unisa) where she obtained her B.A. degree in Philosophy.
After two years of teaching in Simons Town, she moved to the diamond-mining town of Orapa in Botswana. She taught music there at Livingstone House for over thirty years. Jenny now lives in Maun in Botswana where she still teaches music. She is widowed and has two adult sons who live in London, UK.
Jenny loves writing for young people as she admires their spontaneity and lack of hypocrisy. Her favourite theme in her books is the utter uniqueness of the individual. She hates any form of stereotyping and sees every individual as a “never to be repeated entity.”
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 11, 2026
MUST READ!!!!! Me quedo siempre con que no les demos el privilegio de la desinformación a todas las personas que predican el odio y la discriminación.
September 23, 2020
This compelling story of courage and consequence is in my opinion a must-read. It's a short book and you can finish it in an afternoon or over a weekend.
March 6, 2016
“No one knows who killed her.” Jenny Robson grabs the reader with her first line. And of course, by the end of the book, the reader knows who killed the teacher whose body was found on the waste ground on page one, but it is the shocking retribution the killer receives that makes this young adult novel about HIV unforgettable.
In my opinion, Jenny Robson is the most accomplished writer for young people in Southern Africa after Nancy Farmer. She won a well-deserved Sanlam prize in 2005 for her novel Savannah 2116 AD and repeated the honor in 2006 with Praise Song. Savannah 2116 AD shook up the children’s literature establishment with its ambiguous ending as much as its confrontation of issues of environmentalism and human cloning. But such ambiguity is exactly what gets young people talking, and Savannah 2116 AD had plenty to talk about.
So does Praise Song. In a community that takes “Keep our town AIDS free” as the motto of their International AIDS Day commemoration, you can imagine a lot of denial. That doesn’t mean there is no AIDS in the community, and narrator, Gaone, is worried about her younger sister’s infatuation with an older boy who is obviously sleeping around. Precious can’t remember the horror of their mother’s death from AIDS, which she was told was something else, or the humiliation of coming to live with their politically-active aunt, all of which is gradually revealed as Gaone reviews events before and after the murder.
Questions of honesty, responsibility, witchcraft, and submission to community mores of what is and is not appropriate to talk about are raised.
The prose in Praise Song is not as evenly polished as my memory of Savannah 2116 AD. Perhaps the publishers rushed the book to press, knowing they had a sure winner. I found the jumps back in forth in time confusing. I would have preferred a chronological telling, framed by the finding of the body and the revelation of the murderer’s fate. Inexperienced readers are likely to find the jumps even more confusing that I did. In my opinion there was plenty of rising tension in the chronology without the disconcerting breaks.
Nevertheless Praise Song is a well-written, intriguing story about issues that strongly impact South African communities. I highly recommend it along with other books by this author.
In my opinion, Jenny Robson is the most accomplished writer for young people in Southern Africa after Nancy Farmer. She won a well-deserved Sanlam prize in 2005 for her novel Savannah 2116 AD and repeated the honor in 2006 with Praise Song. Savannah 2116 AD shook up the children’s literature establishment with its ambiguous ending as much as its confrontation of issues of environmentalism and human cloning. But such ambiguity is exactly what gets young people talking, and Savannah 2116 AD had plenty to talk about.
So does Praise Song. In a community that takes “Keep our town AIDS free” as the motto of their International AIDS Day commemoration, you can imagine a lot of denial. That doesn’t mean there is no AIDS in the community, and narrator, Gaone, is worried about her younger sister’s infatuation with an older boy who is obviously sleeping around. Precious can’t remember the horror of their mother’s death from AIDS, which she was told was something else, or the humiliation of coming to live with their politically-active aunt, all of which is gradually revealed as Gaone reviews events before and after the murder.
Questions of honesty, responsibility, witchcraft, and submission to community mores of what is and is not appropriate to talk about are raised.
The prose in Praise Song is not as evenly polished as my memory of Savannah 2116 AD. Perhaps the publishers rushed the book to press, knowing they had a sure winner. I found the jumps back in forth in time confusing. I would have preferred a chronological telling, framed by the finding of the body and the revelation of the murderer’s fate. Inexperienced readers are likely to find the jumps even more confusing that I did. In my opinion there was plenty of rising tension in the chronology without the disconcerting breaks.
Nevertheless Praise Song is a well-written, intriguing story about issues that strongly impact South African communities. I highly recommend it along with other books by this author.
December 31, 2015
4,5. Una novela valiente, redonda y completamente diferente a todo lo que estamos acostumbrados. Una gran obra que no debe pasar desapercibida.
March 7, 2019
I think the book is really amazing,i really enjoyed reading it in high school and I want to read it again.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2020
I'm in gr 8 and I love this book reading it just make s me wonder who killed her I'm on pg 55
January 2, 2020
Quan pensem en l'impacte que va tenir la SIDA pensem en els Estats Units i Europa i pensem en el col•lectiu homosexual o els drogoaddictes. Però què va passar a l'Àfrica? Per què les dones van patir-ho més? Col•lectius diferents, continents diferents però el mateix patiment i estigmatització per aquells que ho van patir.
August 25, 2025
Me ha gustado bastante la temática sobre el SIDA, porque a día de hoy parece un asunto del pasado y no lo es tanto, sobre todo en África. También me resulta interesante la perspectiva africana sobre la enfermedad y el sexo, tan diferente a la nuestra. Lo que menos me ha gustado es que sea repetitivo y en ocasiones demasiado didáctico para un público juvenil. Interesante para club de lectura.
June 20, 2019
4.5
MUY BUENA.
MUY BUENA.
Currently Reading
July 5, 2022Publisher of the book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 23, 2022
Esta es una historia cruda sobre los prejuicios y el VIH.
Es una historia de valentía y pánico, de música, pasión y sinceridad.
Una historia sobre cómo muchas veces los prejuicios matan mucho más que las enfermedades.
Una historia que consigue mantenerte en vela capítulo a capítulo con ansias de ver que va a ocurrir.
Una historia que remueve consciencias y que narra la lucha del VIH de una forma diferente.
Muy buen libro.
Es una historia de valentía y pánico, de música, pasión y sinceridad.
Una historia sobre cómo muchas veces los prejuicios matan mucho más que las enfermedades.
Una historia que consigue mantenerte en vela capítulo a capítulo con ansias de ver que va a ocurrir.
Una historia que remueve consciencias y que narra la lucha del VIH de una forma diferente.
Muy buen libro.
June 23, 2010
its a sad book but i enjoyed it. at first it was little bit difficul to understand and confusing too, but i kept on reading and i enjoyed thhe book. what i have learnt is dont miss use what you have because ounce is gone you will be left with nothing. lets stop pushing away people whp really cares about us
September 4, 2016
Un libro muy valiente, escrito estupendamente y con mucha intencionalidad. Ojalá nos llegaran más historias así.
August 16, 2017
Reseña completa: http://palabrasachocolatadas.blogspot...
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews