Présentation de l'éditeur
Hidden is a brave debut novel, tackling the complex issues of immigration and human-rights laws, through the eyes of teenage Alix. A literary, coming-of-age novel dealing with prejudice, judgement, courage, preconceptions and the difficulty of sorting right from wrong. Challenging, charming, compelling. Fourteen year old Alix lives at the bottom of Hayling Island near the beach. It is a quiet backwater, far removed from world events such as war, terror and refugees. Alix has never even given a thought to asylum seekers, she has enough problems of her own: Dad has a new life that doesn't include her, Grandpa is dead and Mum is helpless and needy. Then one day on the beach Alix and Samir pull a drowning man out of the incoming tide: Mohammed, an illegal immigrant and a student. Mohammed has been tortured by rebels in Iraq for helping the allied forces and has spent all his money to escape. Alone, helpless, and desperate not to be deported, Mohammed's destiny lies in Alix's hands. However, hiding an injured immigrant is fraught with difficulties. Faced with the biggest moral dilemma of her life, what will Alix do, and who can she trust?
Revue de presse
Halahmy's debut novel for young adults is written with clarity and immediacy....with a tear-inducing ending in which a community is taught to stand up for tolerance, this is a book to counter bigotry. --Nicolette Jones, The Times
Miriam Halahmy never puts a foot wrong in this gripping story focusing on an agonisingly difficult contemporary problem. Tautly written throughout, her fine novel deserves the widest audience.. --Nick Tucker, reviewer and broadcaster.
Biographie de l'auteur
Miriam Halahmy has been a Londoner all her life but her parents lived on Hayling Island for twenty-five years and she's been visiting the Island regularly since the 1970's. She has published novels, short stories and poetry for adults and young people. Her stories and poems have been included in anthologies, read on the radio and performed on stage. Hidden is her first novel for young adults. Miriam has been married into an Iraqi family for over thirty years and their stories provided some of the inspiration for this book. She has worked with refugees and asylum seekers for many years in schools as well as leading workshops for English PEN and the Medical Foundation for the Victims of Torture. She has written and education resource on child asylum seekers. Miriam is and active participant in promoting peace and dialogue across divided communities. She believes in standing up to any injustice, however small..
