ISBN 9781946395559 | hardcover | $17.95 | publication date Jan 2022
In the final years of South Africa’s Apartheid era, an unlikely trio—a sheltered white rugby player, a black farmworker’s son, and an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter—discover the consequences of knowing the truth and having the courage to speak it.
Halley’s 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 strangers—Petrus, a black farmworker’s son and Sarita, an Indian shopkeeper’s daughter—the trio find themselves running for their lives from the vicious Rudie, whose actions will ripple far beyond that fateful night. This era-defying friendship—sparked 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 people’s lives forever. Halley’s Comet is a story of friendship, love, change, taking chances, hope, a comet, and some pretty cool 80s music.
Translated by the author
Discussion Questions for Halley’s Comet (PDF)
Praise for Halley’s Comet
“A thrilling, tension-filled story of friendship, love, radicalism, and justice that will resonate with many readers” —Kirkus Reviews
“With a sprinkling of the original Afrikaans and countless contextual details – places, brands, music in the background, food, drink, and of course the search for Halley’s Comet itself – Barnard transports readers back to a specific period in time, one that may be familiar to older readers who were teenagers looking for Halley’s Comet themselves, or one that young adults today can explore and reflect on for the first time. This YA story is a crossover novel that is bound to stay with readers – young and old – long after they finish it!” — World Kid Lit Blog
“With gripping action and immense heartbreak, Halley’s Comet yanks readers out of their comfort zone and into the unlikely friendship of a privileged white South African sixteen-year-old, Pete, a black farmworker’s son, Petrus, and an Indian store owner’s daughter, Sarita. We watch with bated breath as Pete questions and defies the inhumanity of Apartheid that tugs at him like a black hole’s gravity. Hannes Barnard delivers an indelible exploration of the importance of empathy in seeing color without seeing inferiority.” —Sonia Patel, author of William C. Morris Award finalist Rani Patel In Full Effect
“This novel, about the slow blooming of love and friendship in a dusty mining town in South Africa made me think of a tough little weed that grows between concrete: it’s tenacious, defiant and hopeful. It’s also a cracking good story.” — Bridget Krone, author of Small Mercies
“An excellent coming of age story, full of emotion and nostalgia, set in a troubled country where doing the right thing was not always easy.”— Sunday Times (South Africa)
“As reader, I was completely blown away by the power of this story. Not only is this an important text, but one that, due to its honesty and thematic reach, makes a significant contribution to the genre.” —Louis Esterhuizen, poet and editor
“Halley’s Comet, the debut novel by Hannes Barnard, is a coming-of-age story that will take young readers (and older ones) on a gripping ride to the 1980s and the social and political expanse of the time.” — Leana Lategan, former Head Language Expert at National Afrikaans Literary Museum
“The romanticism of the comet is a brilliant metaphor for the search for hope and miracles in the midst of illusions being stripped away.” —Jonathan Amid, Netwerk24
“Halley’s Comet is an outstanding coming-of-age novel with believable characters and strong storyline. The author describes that era of the South African history with particular skill. This book cuts deep, very deep. The end is momentous, but it takes the reader to dark and troubled times before offering an end that is likely to leave even the toughest reader in tears.” —DEKAT Magazine (South Africa)
The Author
Hannes Barnard is a South African-born author of both English and Afrikaans novels. He debuted in 2019 with the YA novel, Halley se komeet, which he translated into English as Halley’s Comet. In 2020, Wolk, his apocalyptic YA adventure, was released, and coming up in 2022 is his crime novel, die wet van Gauteng. When not writing, traveling, or planning his next adventure, Hannes works in marketing. He has called England and Seychelles home but now lives in Johannesburg with his wife.