New ebooks From Canadian Indies
Description
Finalist for the Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
Orphaned and plagued with the grief of losing everyone he loves, fifteen-year-old Abdul has made a long, fraught journey from his war-torn home in Baghdad, only to end up in The Jungle -- the squalid, makeshift migrant community in Calais.
When an altercation at the soup kitchen ends up with him accidently stabbing a policeman, Abdul has to flee, and in desperation he takes a spot in a small boat heading to England. A sudden skirmish leaves the boat stalled in the middle of the Channel, the pilot dead, and four young people remaining -- Abdul; Rosalia, a Romani girl who has escaped from the white slave trade; Cheslav, gone AWOL from a Russian military school; and Jonah, the boat pilot's ten-year-old nephew.
The four of them end up hijacking a yacht and, despite their fear and mistrust, they form a kind of makeshift family. And as the authorities close in on them, they find refuge in an unusual place -- a child's secret cave on the English coast.
Contributor Notes
DEBORAH ELLIS is the author of more than two dozen books, including The Breadwinner, which has been published in twenty-five languages and was recently adapted into a feature-length animated film and a graphic novel. She has won the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Middle East Book Award, the Peter Pan Prize, the Jane Addams Children’s Book Award and the Vicky Metcalf Award for a Body of Work. She has received the Ontario Library Association’s President’s Award for Exceptional Achievement, and she has been named to the Order of Canada. She has donated almost $2 million in royalties to organizations such as Women for Women in Afghanistan, UNICEF and Street Kids International.
Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age:
- 0
- Grade:
- p to 12
- Reading age:
- 0
Awards
- Short-listed, SYRCA Snow Willow Award
- Commended, CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens
- Short-listed, Ruth and Sylvia Schwartz Children's Book Award
- Commended, Resource Links' Year's Best
- Commended, OLA Best Bets
Editorial Reviews
This novel moves fast and furiously...exciting and moving.
— School Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Ellis' young readers love her because she speaks to them as intelligent, empathetic beings who will soon have agency in the world, and in 'No Safe Place', this gift is still powerfully evident.
— Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW
Flashbacks to each character's personal story are interwoven with the present-tense violence, prejudice, kindness, and community that the young characters find on their journey.
— Booklist
Flashbacks involving the effects of war and poverty on communities and families drive this fast-paced and heart-wrenching narrative, which deals honestly with countless harsh realities.
— Publishers Weekly Online
What the best literature for young readers can be-simple, elegant language crafted to tell a story as full and rich as life itself. Eminently memorable.
— Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW
Out of print
This edition is not currently available in bookstores. Check your local library or search for used copies at Abebooks.
