Halley's Comet

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. One sexual assault and a nation at war with itself collide in this timely, edifying coming-of-age novel about a tumultuous period in South Africa’s history and being a teen in a society rampant with racial and sexual violence.

A 2024 IBBY Honour List Selection 

A CBC Spring 2024 Showcase Selection

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.