ISBN 9781946395481 | paperback | $16.99 | publication date April 2021
Cars, money, girls: this is what you need to get ahead in Umlazi
Sipho, a seventeen-year-old from Umlazi, a township on the outskirts of Durban, South Africa. drops out of high school and joins a carjacking syndicate to make a name for himself and escape his family’s low-income life. Along with hijacking partners Musa and Vusi, Sipho learns the tricks of the dangerous trade and pushes deeper into the underbelly of Umlazi under the guidance of gang leader Sibani, while partying heavily and chasing women nightly despite loving his longtime girl-friend Nana.
Candid and unapologetic, Young Blood is the story of the intricate balance of circumstance and choice, swift gain and incredible loss, as Sipho finds out how far he can push his luck before the damage is irrevocable—and the consequences deadly. Both a red-hot crime novel of car heists, sex, and rival gangs and a coming-of-age story of a teenager navigating the costs of the fast life, Young Blood reveals the devastating violence and raw beauty of life in South Africa’s townships.
Reviews
Shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, Debut Category (2022)
Winner, South African Literary Award (2011)
Winner, Barry Ronge Fiction Prize (The Sunday Times Literary Award) (2011)
Winner, Herman Charles Bosman Prize (2011)
Winner, Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa (2012)
“Young Blood drops the reader straight into the Umlazi Township of Durban, South Africa, where, having quit school and desperate for cash, young Sipho finds himself crossing increasingly harrowing boundaries into drugs, violence, and criminality. Sifiso Mzobe has written a compassionate, unsentimental, and artful portrait of a young man on the threshold of trying to preserve his life and his humanity by the very means that will almost inevitably destroy both.” —Paul Harding, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Tinkers
“With elegance and satisfying language, Mzobe draws the world of a South African Township with difficulty and a simultaneous tenderness and hope. Mzobe is never sentimental, pushing his characters to breaking, towards a head on collision with fate and danger and consequences that seem irrevocable. Yet the drive is a deeply human one, the search for the limits of pain and the ability to resist the pressures of one’s environment to carve a redemption. A strong novel.” —Chris Abani, GraceLand and The Secret History of Las Vegas
“With crisp, cinematic prose, Mzobe transports us into the dark abyss of Durban’s harrowing nightlife, where gang violence is rife, life is precarious, and young blood is carelessly used and discarded. Winner of the prestigious Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa when it was first published 10 years ago, this raw coming-of-age novel will resonate with its new audiences for its all-embracing tale of young people eager to escape poverty but with too few choices.”— Library Journal
“A landmark in South African crime fiction.” —New York Journal of Books
Listed as one of “Tsitsi Dangarembga’s 10 Favorite Books” in Vulture
“Young Blood offers readers insight to a not often explored underbelly of South Africa while also providing a fresh narrative on the atypical “descent into crime” story.”—Drizzle Review
“Starting with smaller crimes like drug use and theft, Sipho’s actions intensify as he falls further in lust with the lavish rewards that crime gets him. Of course, such bad judgment calls come with increasingly dangerous risks, and the window for Sipho to choose a different path in life closes further with every escalating act. The fetishization of wealth, from upscale cars to access to expensive drugs, is portrayed deftly, illuminating Sipho’s choices as being mired in peer pressure and capitalist messaging […] Blunt, brisk, and fast-paced.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Whether Sipho chooses to ‘crash and burn’ or to, instead, slow down and live, is the question that draws the reader through the novel. At the end of “the year of stubborn seasons,” Sipho makes his choice.” —Africa Book Link
“With considerable panache, [Mzobe] lifts the lid on township life in Umlazi, focusing on the lives and frequent violent deaths of the young bloods, the township high school dropouts who are faced with a stark choice. There is a good deal of raw power here, and an easy, fluent writing style. I hope we will hear more of Sifiso Mzobe.” – Margaret von Klemperer, The Witness
“Young Blood is a sober account of the fate of many a young man. The question implied throughout is exactly how much young blood must be spilled before Sipho rediscovers his integrity.” – Lara Sadler, Cape Argus
“The story pulsates with energy that makes it intense and very real. It is a voice that tells about crime and how it speaks to the youth through poverty . . . A thrilling, action-packed diamond in the rough.”- Tshepo Tshabalala, Tonight
“This debut novel is a compelling journey through the underbelly of the streets of Umlazi Township, Durban, and marks the arrival of a fresh new voice on the South African literary scene.” – Mbali Vilakazi, Cape Times
About the author
Sifiso Mzobe is a writer, content editor and translator. He was born and bred in Umlazi Township, south of Durban, South Africa, where he obtained his primary schooling and where he currently resides. After attending St. Francis College, he studied Journalism at the Damelin Business Campus in Durban.
His debut novel, Young Blood, charts the life of a teenager who drops out of school and joins a car hijacking syndicate. So raw was Mzobe’s rendition of the story that Young Blood went on to win the Sunday Times Fiction Prize, the Herman Charles Bosman Prize for Best English Fiction, the SALA First Time Published Author Award and the Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa. Mzobe also made it into the “Africa 39 List,” a UNESCO initiative which names 39 of the most promising authors under the age of 40 from Sub-Saharan Africa and the diaspora.
His second book, a collection of short stories titled, Searching for Simphiwe was published by Kwela Books in April 2020. His is currently working on his second novel titled, Durban December.