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Un voyage magique sur les rives du Zambèze.
Habitant sur les rives du fleuve Zambèze, Siku est une jeune fille comme les autres, à ceci près qu’elle semble dotée d’étranges pouvoirs qui la lie aux animaux de la région. Elle est sans nouvelle de son père, depuis que celui-ci est parti travailler au grand barrage de Kariba, un chantier colossal qui recrute de la main-d’œuvre dans toute la région. Pour le retrouver, Siku décide de remonter les flots périlleux du Zambèze avec l’aide d’Amedeo, le fils de l’ingénieur en chef de Kariba. Leur voyage aux sources de ce fleuve légendaire la confrontera à des pirates, des capitalistes, des affabulateurs ou de sombres magiciens. Mais il va également mener Siku au plus près du secret enfoui de ses origines...
Découvert sur Kickstarter, Kariba a été pensé par le collectif « Blue Forest » pour sensibiliser les jeunes populations sur la construction du barrage éponyme et les conséquences du productivisme sur l’environnement et les cultures locales. Une grande aventure teintée de magie, inspirée de la mythologie sud-africaine, pour un cri du cœur en faveur de l’harmonie avec la nature.
Published: 2020
Originally written in English
Number of pages: 227
Recommended FSL Programs and Grades
Recommended FSL Programs and Grades
Grade 11/12 Core French
Grade 9/10 Extended French
Grade 9/10 French Immersion
Race/Ethnic/Geographic Information
Race/Ethnic/Geographic Information
Author: South African
Characters: Main character is indigenous to Zimbabwe
Setting: la fleuve Zambèze, Zimbabwe
Notes from a teacher-reader
Notes from a teacher-reader
Big, heavy book, but a graphic novel
Not a lot of text, a lot of beautiful imagery!!
Based on the African mythology of the Zambezi river and the construction of the Kariba dam in 1956-1959, but is entirely fiction
Summary:
Two Zimbabwean explorers looking for the land of the gods, where they find find Siku (the main character) in a river, they adopt the child
She is the physical embodiment of a river god
Italians and the French want to build the dam to generate electricity and make money
Siku goes to stop the dam, with the help of the son of the dam's main architect
Note for structuring a novel study: No chapters, you would have to pre-identify good moments to pause
Action-packed with great character development
Lots of potential for teaching and exploring the main ideas:
Environmentalism and the importance of fighting for the environment
African mythology around the river
Indigenous communities' rights
Take your time teaching this - you would likely need character maps/profiles because there are a lot of characters that are introduced
Concern 1: Stereotype of Indigenous community as very tribal, third world - you would need to research the Tongo tribe beforehand
Concern 2: White saviourism is present, however they are very much the "bad guys"
Elements of joy
Appreciation for culture and Indigenous cultures
Not a lot of joy though, it is a battle
Could write an essay on it, lots of discussion to unpack
Senior CF: 10/11/12 could handle it, but upper years are better; Subjonctif is present
Feel free to contact the teacher-reader, Amanda Cloutier at amanda.cloutier@peelsb.com if you have questions about this novel.
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