‘Father, that man who looked at the passports, what was wrong with him?’ ‘English, I said.’Īlem looked back towards passport control. ‘What did I tell you? From now on you must try to speak English, you must practise your English – all right, young man?’ His father turned to him and spoke as if he was trying to shout quietly. ‘Abbaye, yaw teguru tekatlowal,’ he said, brimming with excitement. He took Alem’s hand and began to head for the baggage-reclaim area.Īlem jerked his father’s hand and stopped suddenly. Welcome to England, Mr Kelo,’ said the immigration officer as he handed back the passports to Alem’s father.Īlem stared up at the tall officer the officer looked down at Alem. What seems like a betrayal is in fact an act of love, but now Alem is alone in a strange country, and he must forge his own path.īrilliantly written and with a real ear for dialogue, fans of Angie Thomas and Malorie Blackman will love Benjamin Zephaniah's novels for young adult readers:ĭie.’ Chapter 1 ˜ Welcome to the Weather ˜ So Alem is excited to spend a holiday in London with his father – until he wakes up to find him gone. Their countries are at war, and Alem is welcome in neither place. His father is Ethopian, his mother Eritrean. The personal, funny and poignant tale of a young refugee, from acclaimed storyteller Benjamin ZephaniahĪcclaimed performance poet and novelist Benjamin Zephaniah's honest, wry and poignant story of a young refugee left in London is of even more power and pertinence today than when it was first published. 'Sweet, funny, highly inventive' Yorkshire Post hilarious and later heartbreaking' Guardian 'Playful, obstinate and courageously humorous.
0 kommentar(er)
