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Recommended by Stephen Dilley @stephenjdilley
Author: Nadia Mikail
Form: Prose Novel
Length: 192 pages
Brief synopsis: A “pre-apocalyptic” road-trip novel set in Malaysia: it has been announced that the world is going to end and 17-year-old Aisha is desperate to see her older sister June again, so she, her mother and her boyfriend’s family set off in their campervan to track her down. A beautiful and moving novel about loss, grief and healing.
Age recommendation and challenging content: Explores loss and grief but very sensitively. Probably best for Year 8 or 9 but would be fine for Year 7 too.
Notable reasons for recommending: A brilliant debut novel by a young Malaysian author from a small independent publisher. This is a completely original story which, despite its apparently bleak premise, is delightful, funny and hopeful.