Two young people under extraordinary pressure are at the heart of Siobhan Curham’s compassionate, affecting and ultimately uplifting novel. Hafiz is a refugee newly arrived in Britain after two terrifying years on the road. His parents are still in Syria. Stevie’s mother is suffering with depression, spending most of her time asleep and relying on her daughter for everything. Money is tight and Stevie struggles to keep her predicament a secret from school and classmates. Brought together by accident the two become friends, bonding as much over a shared love of strong coffee and arcade claw machines as through their joint loneliness and isolation. Both their lives are changed as a result. Tender and convincing, the story demonstrates that with friendship, unity and humanity there’s hope even in the most extreme circumstances.
An uplifting story of friendship, unity and hope that highlights the important and topical issues surrounding young carers and young refugees.Fourteen-year-old Stevie lives in Lewes with her beloved vinyl collection, her mum ... and her mum's depression. When Stevie's mum's disability benefits are cut, Stevie and her mother are plunged into a life of poverty. But irrepressible Stevie is determined not to be beaten and she takes inspiration from the lyrics of her father's 1980s record collection and dreams of a life as a musician. Then she meets Hafiz, a talented footballer and a Syrian refugee. Hafiz's parents gave their life savings to buy Hafiz a safe passage to Europe; his journey has been anything but easy. Then he meets Stevie...As Stevie and Hafiz's friendship grows, they encourage each other to believe in themselves and follow their dreams.
Siobhan Curham is an award-winning author and was the editorial consultant on Zoe Sugg's (Zoella's) first book, Girl Online, as well as the author of two previous books for Walker: The Moonlight Dreamers and Tell It to the Moon. Siobhan is also a motivational speaker and life coach. Her other books, for young adults, include Dear Dylan, True Face and Shipwrecked, and she has written for many newspapers, magazines and websites, including The Guardian, Cosmopolitan and Take a Break. Siobhan has been a guest on various radio and TV shows, including Woman's Hour, BBC News, GMTV and BBC Breakfast. She lives in Lewes, East Sussex.
