by Victoria Williamson
Kelpies
9/4/2018, paperback
SKU: 9781782504900
Reema runs to remember the life she left behind in Syria.
Caylin runs to find what she's lost.
Under the gray Glasgow skies, twelve-year-old refugee Reema is struggling to find her place in a new country, with a new language and without her brother. But she isn't the only one feeling lost. Her Glasgwegian neighbor Caylin is lonely and lashing out.
When they discover an injured fox and her cubs hiding on their estate, the girls form a wary friendship. And they are more alike than they could have imagined: they both love to run.
As Reema and Caylin learn to believe again, in themselves and in others, they find friendship, freedom and the discovery that home isn't a place, it's the people you love.
Heartfelt and full of hope, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle is an uplifting story about the power of friendship and belonging. Inspired by her work with young asylum seekers, debut novelist Victoria Williamson's stunning story of displacement and discovery will speak to anyone who has ever asked 'where do I belong?'
Target age: 9 to 12
Reviews:
"Williamson allows readers to quickly relate to both white Glaswegian Caylin and Syrian-immigrant Reema, seeing in them reflections of the many problems children face around the world today. Her writing is culturally sensitive...With her two characters, Williamson movingly makes it clear that working-class solidarity traverses borders, race, ethnicity, and religion." - Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"I love both these girls. They are so different, yet so alike. They both have struggles which are compounded by not having a soul to share them with. Once they decide to lower their walls, they end up helping each other rise to make their struggles more bearable and become a better person."- Kiss the Book
"This story is a delightfully nuanced, diverse, thoughtful and even fun/cute story of friendship and learning to be a good person. The ending works with the rest of the feel-good story. Really great for anyone who loves a great story of friendship."- Youth Services Book Review, starred review
"This is the most wonderful story of survival, courage, and a developing friendship between two very different girls... Woven over the ''issues'' is a terrific story of a developing friendship, and by the final chapters I was on the edge of my seat and breathless to find out how the various strands of the narrative would end... A must-have."- View From the Bookshelves
About the Author:
Victoria Williamson is a primary school teacher with a Master's degree in special needs education. She has worked as a science teacher and teacher trainer in Cameroon and Malawi, an English as a foreign language teacher in China, and as a special needs teacher in the UK. Victoria's experiences teaching young children in a school where many families were seeking asylum, inspired her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle.