Amina lives on the edges of Mogadishu. Her family's house has been damaged in Somalia's long civil war, but they continue to live there, reluctant to leave their home. Amina's world is shattered when government forces come to arrest her father because his art has been officially censored, deemed too political. Then, rebel forces kidnap Amina's brother. She reacts by creating street art to give herself a sense of hope and to share with people all over the city who hope for a better, more secure future.
Fourteen-year-old Hasina is forced to flee everything she knows in this gripping account of the crisis in Myanmar. For Hasina and her younger brother Araf, the constant threat of Sit Tat, the Myanmar Army, is a way of life in Rakhine province—just uttering the name is enough to send chills down their spines. As Rohingyas, they know that when they hear the wop wop wop of their helicopters there is one thing to do—run, and don’t stop. So when soldiers invade their village one night, and Hasina awakes to her aunt's fearful voice, followed by smoke, and then a scream, run is what they do. Hasina races deep into the Rakhine forest to hide with her cousin Ghadiya and Araf. When they emerge some days later, it is to a smouldering village. Their house is standing but where is the rest of her family? With so many Rohingyas driven out, Hasina must figure out who she can trust for help and summon the courage to fight for her family amid the escalating conflict that threatens her world and her identity. Fast-paced and accessibly written, Crossing the Farak River tackles an important topic frequently in the news but little explored in fiction. It is a poignant and thought-provoking introduction for young readers to the military crackdown and ongoing persecution of Rohingya people, from the perspective of a brave and resilient protagonist.
A gripping story of one child's experience of the civil war in Syria. Zafir has a comfortable life in Homs, Syria, until his father, a doctor, is arrested for helping a protester who was campaigning for revolution. While his mother heads to Damascus to try to find out where his father is being held, Zafir stays with his grandmother - until her house is bombed. With his father in prison, his mother absent, his grandmother ill and not a friend left in the city, Zafir must stay with his Uncle Ghazi. But that too becomes dangerous as the city becomes more and more besieged. Will Zafir survive long enough to be reunited with his parents?
An evocative and compelling story about one boy living through the 2014 drought in Henan, China. WINNER: Educational Publishing Awards 2019 Shaozhen has no intention of staying in his remote Henan village and becoming another poor farmer: he'll finish school, and then, hopefully, work in a factory in one of the major cities, just like his father. But when Shaozhen returns home for the summer holidays, imagining days filled with nothing but playing basketball with his friends, he's in for a shock. The worst drought in over sixty years threatens the crops that the entire village relies on for income. As the water situation becomes dire, Shaozhen realises he must come up with a plan. But will it be enough to save his family and friends and secure the future of his village?
The powerful, poignant, bestselling National Book Award finalist gives voice to a young girl robbed of her childhood yet determined to find the strength to triumph. Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family's crops, Lakshmi's stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family. He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at "Happiness House" full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution. An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family's debt-then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave. Lakshmi's life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother's words—Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision-will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life? Written in spare and evocative vignettes by the co-author of I Am Malala (Young Readers Edition), this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.
Winner of the 1974 CBCA Book of the YearWhen Simon Brent's parents are killed in a car accident he is taken to live with his mother's second cousins, Edie and Charlie, on Wongadilla, their 5000 acre sheep run in the Hunter Valley. Simon, with his city attitudes feels like an outsider, unable even to bring himself to call his cousins by name. But Simon is not the only thing that doesn't belong in Wongadilla. The arrival of heavy machinery intent on clearing the land brings to life the Nargun, a great rock, older than time itself, that has slowly dragged itself into the valley - and with it, a simmering rage that drives it to kill. Before long, Simon is captivated by the land and by the Potkoorak, the Turongs and the Nyols, mischievous and ancient creatures steeped in the traditions of the land and its inhabitants. As the terror begins, Simon, his cousins and the creatures must use their wit and ingenuity to drive the monster away. Rich in mythology, The Nargun and the Starsevokes an image of this land and its people, and carries an environmental message that is as important and relevant today as it was thirty years ago.
A gripping and personal story about one girl's experience of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake and its aftermath. WINNER: Educational Publishing Awards 2019 Lyla has just started her second year of high school when a magnitude 6.3 earthquake shakes Christchurch to pieces. Devastation is everywhere. While her police officer mother and trauma nurse father respond to the disaster, Lyla puts on a brave face, opening their home to neighbours and leading the community clean-up. But soon she discovers that it's not only familiar buildings and landscapes that have vanished - it's friends and acquaintances too. As the earth keeps shaking day after day, can Lyla find a way to cope with her new reality?
A gripping story of one child's experience of the refugee crisis in Myanmar. The men come at night. The first Hasina knows of it is her aunt's voice, urgent, full of fear. 'Up, up. Get up! ' The second thing is smoke. Then there is a scream. 'Run,' her father shouts. 'And don't stop!' Hasina races deep into the Rakhine forest to hide with her cousin Ghadiya and her little brother, Araf. When they emerge some days later, it is to a silent, smouldering village. Their own house has not been burnt down but where are the rest of her family? Perhaps they have been gathered up and taken away ... or worse. So many Rohingyas are gone, how will she survive? Will her parents return? Hasina must find the courage to save her family amid the escalating conflict that threatens her world and her identity.
Ameera, 16, is the daughter of an Australian mother and a Pakistani father. She doesn't realise it but her father has made plans to marry her off to a wealthy cousin in Pakistan. When her uncle takes her passport and return ticket away and confiscates her mobile phone, Ameera is trapped ... Ages 14+.