Mina is looking forward to not having to share a bedroom with her little brother Georgie.

“…he’s a wrecker.”

She has to hide her treasures out of his reach. A solution is on its way though. Mina’s dad is nearly finished painting the room down the hall. This new room will be hers! She can’t wait, measuring, imagining and dreaming of a space all hers, all alone.

Until…

Mum and dad have some news. Shared with her especially. Someone is coming to stay. Someone who needs not only a room, but a family, at the moment. That someone is a boy called Azzami, and he is all alone.

The loss of her dream is huge. The betrayal deep. They promised!

Azzami arrives, so quiet and shy. He trails her to school and then upends Mina’s school life too. Her resentment soon changes to something else, which bubbles over, causing trouble.

Then Mina sees another side of Azzami. Something the other kids haven’t. She has caught a glimpse of his world, and the more she sees, the more she understands, changing everything.

This is a verse novel, and as all wonderful verse novels are, it reads like a full novel, the feelings full and raw between the few words on the page.

This is a beautiful story of a boy who has fled Afghanistan with only his mum, but is now separated from her too. Mina is a girl aching for her own space but it is taken from her before she even gets it, causing resentment. She travels through a tumult of completely understandable emotions before finding the true kindness her new friend needs.

Gorgeous.

Author – Sherryl Clark

Illustrator – Briony Stewart

Age – 8+

Teacher’s Notes here

(2021, UQP, University of Queensland Press, Giving up precious things, Kindness, Friendship, School, Afghanistan, Refugee, New School, New Room, A place for treasures, Making room for others, Feelings, Emotions, Family, Verse)