Home is a Place Called Nowhere

by Leon Rosselson (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.25

  Amina was found by Auntie Vickie in a cardboard box on her doorstep and has lived with her ever since. She doesn't know who or where her parents are, and she feels misunderstood. When she is bullied by Vickie's son she can't stand it any longer, so she runs away. Squatting in an empty house, she makes friends with Paul, an older teenager. Paul tries to help her find out about her real mother and become reconciled with Auntie Vickie. But the young squatters face eviction and unwelcome attention from those opposed to asylum-seekers. Soon Amina is running again, even though she doesn't know where to run to. All she can cling to is her love of song and her hope that somewhere she will belong.

• Used

  Paperback
  2002

  $5.04

  Amina has lived for most of her life with a foster family who took her in when she came to the country as a refugee, and was separated from her mother. The story opens when she is driven to run away from her foster home after a terrible argument with her foster brother. Taking refuge in a deserted house, she meets up with Paul, an older boy who is squatting there, and who takes her under his wing. The story follows Paul's attempts to help Amina find out the truth about her real mother, and become reconciled with her foster mother. This is combined with a fast-moving plot, as the squatters try to escape eviction, and to avoid the unwelcome attention of those opposed to asylum seekers. Throughout all this, the story is infused with a warm sense of the importance of story and of song.