Book Review: Willem Poprok

BEFORE I begin I must admit something, I hated learning Afrikaans in school.

The root cause of my problem is that with my very English family, I am completely unable to pronounce half the words. Though my Afrikaans teachers always were very encouraging to me and said not to worry that I merely sounded Dutch, I never enjoyed my second language. Until matric, this year, which brings me to my literary review of Willem Poprok.

Willem Poprock, written Derick van der Walt, has to be one of the most brilliant books I have ever had the pleasure of reading and the fact that it was set by a teacher, just makes it even more enjoyable.

High school has been built up on years of Shakespeare and sixteenth century romances as far as English is concerned and timeless Afrikaans classics such as Fiela se Kind.

Unfortunately, all of them were, for the most part, a chore to read, this is where Willem Poprok stands out.

This award-winning book written in 2010 tells the story of 8th grader, Willem Van Vuuren and his family.

Set in Pretoria, Willem leads a fairly normal life with his two older brothers, little sister and his parents.

Subtle skill

He faces the same dilemmas as any other teenager with a bad maths grade, too many commitments between life and school and, of course, teenage, heartbreak.

Derick van der Walt not only accomplishes in telling a story that is completely relatable to teenagers, but also provide a fun and thoughtprovoking description of growing up in the New South Africa.

The subtle skill that introduces the darker aspects of life such as crime, drugs and racism is impressive.

Life is not easy, in the 20 years of democracy South Africa has not become an easy place to live, but Willem Poprok proves that life in our country is amazing and adventurous no matter

how much our president spends on his house.

Entertaining, refreshing and relevant, these are just some of the praises I can offer Willem Poprock and yet it remains deep and informative.

If every book set by schools was half as brilliant as Willem Poprok teachers would never have to worry about students not doing their work.