The Second Verse - by Onke Mazibuko (Paperback)

About the Book

"Bokang Damane is a talented outsider, a dreamer, at his prestigious school. His problems mount after writing an essay - not even a controversial essay - on racial or political issues. Just a short paper on suicide. Really? Talk about drama. Now life is just a slog of unsolvable problems. Problem #1: Not black enough for the black kids and too black for the white kids. Yep, that's what happens when you attend a pompous all boys' school and live in the suburbs. Problem #2: Family finances are a joke - they can't even afford Bokang's initiation as a Xhosa. How can he function without respect, respect that only a Xhosa man commands after the weeks-long initiation ordeal in the countryside? Problem #3: An alcoholic, gambling attorney for a father who expects the world to bend to his will or fist. Bokang just wants to rap, sketch, and be left alone. Everyone keeps talking about Bokang reaching his true potential, but everyone also keeps getting in the way. So what happens? Boy meets girl - a beautiful girl, Nokwanda. It wouldn't be a story otherwise. But she comes with her own set of issues. Most of all, Napoleon, her hulking on again, off again boyfriend who has been known to assuage his jealousies with a good old-fashioned beat-down. It's a fight to find the flow - a spark to rise above the raging seas of family strife and school pressure and discover a path, though fraught with danger, into the future."--Amazon.

Book Synopsis

Bokang's life is falling apart as his family spirals into poverty and conflict over his father's gambling and alcohol addiction.

Bokang Damane is a talented outsider, a dreamer, at his prestigious school. His problems mount after writing an essay - not even a controversial essay - on racial or political issues. Just a short paper on suicide. Really? Talk about drama. Now life is just a slog of unsolvable problems. Problem #1: Not black enough for the black kids and too black for the white kids. Yep, that's what happens when you attend a pompous all boys' school and live in the suburbs. Problem #2: Family finances are a joke - they can't even afford Bokang's initiation as a Xhosa. How can he function without respect, respect that only a Xhosa man commands after the weeks-long initiation ordeal in the countryside? Problem #3: An alcoholic, gambling attorney for a father who expects the world to bend to his will or fist.

Bokang just wants to rap, sketch, and be left alone. Everyone keeps talking about Bokang reaching his true potential, but everyone also keeps getting in the way. So what happens? Boy meets girl - a beautiful girl, Nokwanda. It wouldn't be a story otherwise. But she comes with her own set of issues. Most of all, Napoleon, her hulking on again, off again boyfriend who has been known to assuage his jealousies with a good old-fashioned beat-down.

It's a fight to find the flow - a spark to rise above the raging seas of family strife and school pressure and discover a path, though fraught with danger, into the future.

Review Quotes

"Although a work of fiction, the subject of an adolescent coming of age, the problems arising from trying to fit in with his peers, family issues, and the attendant issues surrounding suicidal contemplation are very real. The Second Verse by psychologist and author Onke Mazibuko is a deftly crafted and riveting read from start to finish. With an authenticity that many young readers will identify with, The Second Verse is especially and unreservedly recommended for high school and community library YA Fiction collections for ages 14-18." - The Midwest Book Review

"A black South African teenager navigates mental health challenges as he tries to define his own version of masculinity." -- Kirkus

"A significant contribution... in creating awareness on mental health issues, [The Second Verse] rings a siren of caution on how childhood traumas - when unresolved - could cause disruptive behaviors in our adult lives. The themes challenged my perspective on the scale of mental and emotional battles teenagers are dealing with..." -- Rolland Simpi Motaung, Culture Review Magazine (South Africa)

About the Author

Onke Mazibuko is a psychologist who has worked in different settings including private practice, corporate, non-government organisations, tertiary institutions and schools. Currently he works as the Director of Transformation, Diversity and Inclusion in an all-girls' private school. Onke has two masters' degrees, one in Counselling Psychology and the other in Public Health. Currently he is in his final year of a PhD in Creative Writing at the University of Pretoria. He is a recipient of the Canon Collins Educational Trust Scholarship, as well as the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP - Public Health) granted by the US Department of State. He is also a Mawazo African Writers Institute Fellow. His debut novel, The Second Verse, was published by Penguin Random House in South Africa and longlisted for the Sunday Times Literary Awards and won in the Youth Literature category of the South African Literary Awards.