Fifteen-year-old Treasa Prescott thinks she’s an alien. She doesn’t fit in with the preppy South African private school crowd and feels claustrophobic in her own skin. Treasa is worried she might spend life as a social pariah when she meets Gabriel du Preez. Gabriel plays the piano better than Beethoven, has a black belt in karate, and would look good wearing a garbage bag. Treasa thinks he’s perfect. It might even be love, as long as Gabriel doesn’t find out she’s a freak.
As I read this book, I realised that it is a book like no other. The book is truly South African, and captures the culture of South African teenagers very well. But the thing I found so fascinating was how it deals with real human issues so well. Not just drama issues such as crime and violence that we hear about all the time in South Africa, but real human emotions – the ones we don’t easily share with others. Continue reading
