She is very determined, and - with the help of Ben and Travis, her new foster "brothers" - embarks on an epic race to London from a village in Oxfordshire to do so. Aniyah and her little brother Noah are placed in foster care with Mrs Iwuchukwu, who is a ray of sunshine in the kids lives, kind, fair and loving!

In her spare time, she delivers emergency aid convoys for refugee families surviving in Calais and Dunkirk, and supports interfaith projects. When they discover that a rare phenomenon of a star travelling close to earth Aniya believes this star is her mother coming to find them.Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. While Aniyah’s foster sister is a frustratingly clichéd villain, the story’s compassionate portrayal of young survivors more than makes up for its flaws. I actually got incredibly emotional reading the content warning because it really drives home the fact that while this book is fiction, for so many children this is their reality. This was shortlisted for the inaugural Diverse Book Awards, [16] and 2020 British Book Awards: Books of the Year. Due to this, I would personally only read it with Year 6 children who have the maturity to understand these areas.

Even though the telling is from a 10 year old’s perspective, the author makes sure to bring in serious issues like domestic abuse and parental death in a way that kids would process it.My interpretation of this is telling the reader that although Isabella (like the Seven Sisters) is no longer living on Earth, they are now safe and will not have to endure suffering anymore as their suffering is gone and the causes to their suffering is far far away. The book which is told in the voice of Aniyah is written in a very simple language which is apt for the kids. It's the same for Aniyah and Noah and the other foster children they meet while staying with their foster mother Mrs Iwuchukwu (more about her below! A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. it is a book from the perspective of ten-year-old Aniyah and written for children of the same age so you can be reassured that there is nothing gratuitous or explicit.