Dancing with Strangers

Stories from Africa. Retold by Clare West. Penguin Bookworms, 2008. — 68 pages. South Africa: Ekaterina by Jack Cope. Tanzania: Breaking Loose by M. G. Vassanji. Uganda: Remember Atita by Jackee Budesta Batanda. South Africa: A Gathering of Bald Men by Mandla Langa. These stories come from different countries in Africa. First, there is a passenger on a plane, flying home to South Africa, talking to the stranger sitting next to him, a beautiful young Greek girl. Next, in Tanzania, Yasmin is very uncomfortable when a visiting professor asks her to dance with him. What will her mother say? In Uganda, strangers are brought together by the accidents of war - Atita, looking for a lost friend, and Okema, a young boy hiding from the rebels that steal children from the villages. And in the busy city of Johannesburg Caleb finds a new worry to add to the many worries in his life. But then he meets a stranger in a bar, who has the answer to it all . . . There are many varieties of English spoken in the world, used by people who speak many other languages as well. In these stories set in Africa there are a few words from African languages such as Swahili and Acholi. All these words are either explained in the stories or in the glossary on page 57.