Halley's Comet

A 2024 IBBY Honour List Selection A CBC Spring 2024 Showcase Selection In the final years of South Africas Apartheid era, an unlikely trioa sheltered white rugby player, a black farmworkers son, and an Indian shopkeepers daughterdiscover the consequences of knowing the truth and having the courage to speak it. Halleys Comet is the coming-of-age story of Pete de Lange, a white 16-year-old schoolboy, set in small-town South Africa in 1986. Pete lives a relatively sheltered life, primarily concerned with girls and rugby until one January night changes everything. Thrust together with two complete strangersPetrus, a black farmworkers son and Sarita, an Indian shopkeepers daughterthe trio find themselves running for their lives from the vicious Rudie, whose actions will ripple far beyond that fateful night. This era-defying friendshipsparked by a shared secret challenges everything Pete thought he knew and believed. And when anti-Apartheid revolutionaries set their sights on the town, it will change the course of the three young peoples lives forever. Halleys Comet is a story of friendship, love, change, taking chances, hope, a comet, and some pretty cool 80s music.