QUICK DELIVERY
Swift dispatch
Shortchanged!
The Dumpsite Puzzle
This is serious and dangerous," Uncle Ben said after listening to our story. He then warned us not to mention it to anyone.
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n"Boys, you will now let the police take it up from here. Do not, and I repeat, do not go to that area again," Sergeant Keroi added. "Can we accompany the police to show them the hidden gate?" I asked thoughtlessly.
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n"NO!" The cry came from both mothers. It was all so dangerous.
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nStarLit Readers is a series targeting Junior School learners in the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC). The series is also recommended for other readers looking for modern stories told in a powerful and highly refreshing fashion. The books in this series will certainly keep you turning the pages.
Twelve Months
The Hunter is Back
The Burdens by John Ruganda
Wamala, an erstwhile Cabinet Minister of a country in post-independence Africa, was detained for plotting with foreigners to overthrow the government. When released he failed to reconcile himself with the life of abject poverty and nagging family obligations.
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nAct I poses the problem deceptively as if the argument going on is the familiar one of the neglected wife exploiting sympathy from her two children and using it to fight the husband.
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nIn Act II, with rapidly increasing tension, both wife and husband bring up their past and end by having their greatest confrontation. The impression at the end of Act II is that this is the last moment of choice for Wamala: to find his feet as a man or to go under finally. Act III reveals the aftermath of his choice.
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nJohn Ruganda has maintained a keen interest in theatre since his student days at Makerere University College, where he graduated with an honours degree in English Literature.
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nHe is a lecturer in the Department of Literature at the University of Nairobi. His two full-length plays, Black Mamba and Covenant with Death are published by the East African Publishing House. Study Guide to 'The Burdens' by E. Kitonga is also available.
The Trials of Brother Jero: A play by...
Brother Jeroboam is a self-professed man of God who preaches water but drinks wine. He has managed to convince a group of people that he is God's prophet with divine powers to have their dreams fulfilled. Through this, he takes advantage of his faithful who are just too eager to be told what they want to hear. Like many of the 'prophets' we see everywhere today, Brother Jero, as he likes to be called, has managed to keep his followers in a tight grip of spiritual slavery. When Chume, his faithful assistant and heir apparent, discovers the real man behind the mask, Brother Jero won't stop at anything to make sure that he is 'well taken care of'!
Glass Houses
Kito Makato, now the undisputed head of his family, is in for a rude awakening. Things are fast getting out of hand on the home front as his wife of twelve years, Kawira, discovers that ‘there is no peace without truth’ and, under pressure from an old friend, decides to lay bare her controversial past. Arguing that ‘God made woman to keep recreating her man over and over again’ and that ‘No man is a hero to his wife; even if she is a bushwoman,’ Kawira, a woman on several missions, uses silence; persuasion, threats, wit, sarcasm and whatever other ammunition she can think of to puncture all the bubbles thrown in her way. So, is anyone out there bold enough to throw stones into her territory ‘when we all live in glasshouses’?
Musa na Shamba la Shule
Wazo la kuanzisha shamba la shule linawafanya wanafunzi wa Mukibi's Educational Institute for the Sons of African Gentlemen kuandaa mgomo baridi. Kwa madai yao wenyewe, wako shuleni 'kusomea mitihani' wala si kuwa mashokoa wa mwalimu mkuu, Mzee Mukibi. Hata hivyo, hakuna aliye tayari kumkabili mwalimu mkuu kwa kuhofia kuonekana muasi. Masaibu ya Musa na marafiki zake yanazidi kufuatia 'kutoweka' kwa nguruwe dume, na kuku sita kuibwa. Mwalimu mkuu naye ameapa kufanya juu chini kuwanasa wezi.
Musa na Bahati Nasibu
Musa na King Kong wanakumbwa na uhitaji mkubwa wa pesa. Ili kukidhi haja hii, wanaibuka na wazo la kuandaa mchezo wa bahati nasibu.
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nMusa analazimika kutafuta zawadi ya kushindaniwa katika shule yao, Mukibi's Educational Institute for the Sons of African Gentlemen.
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nIngawa wanafanikiwa kupata zawadi - gari kutoka kwa Nick Molo - mchezo wao unakumbwa na mashaka.
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nKwanza, mwalimu mkuu, Mzee Mukibi, anawapokonya tiketi za mchezo. Kisha, inabainika kuwa gari lenyewe ni la kuibwa.
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nPesa wanazozipata nazo zinaishia mikononi mwa hasimu wao ...
Musa Mpigakambi
Musa na King Kong wanabaki bila mahali pa kulala baada ya ‘maonesho’ yao ya fataki kuteketeza kimakosa mabweni katika shule yao _ Mukibi's Educational Institute for the Sons of African Gentlemen. Walioathiriwa na mkasa huo wanalazimika kupiga kambi kwenye mahema ukingoni mwa mto.
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nKatika harakati za kuchimba shimo la kutia mhimili wa hema, King Kong anachimbua mfuko wenye vito vya thamani. Pamoja na wenzake, wanashindwa kujiwekea siri ya ugunduzi huo mkuu, na muda si mrefu, wanajipata katika matatizo makubwa.