'Diamonds for everyone.' That's what fifteen-year-old Patson Moyo hears when his family arrives in the Marange diamond fields, leaving his previous life, school and friends behind with hopes for a better life. Soon Patson is working in the mines along with four friends in the Gwejana Syndicate teen diamond miners, secretly pooling their profits and hoping to find the priceless stone that will change everything. But when the government's soldiers come to Marange, Patson's world is shattered. Set against the backdrop of President Mugabe's brutal regime in Zimbabwe, this is the story of a young man who succumbs to greed, but finds his way out through a transformative journey to South Africa in search of his missing sister, in search of freedom, and in search of himself.

 

 

This book is the winner of numerous awards

This book has been graded for interest at 12-17 years.

There are 400 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2015 by Penguin Random House Children's UK .

Michael Williams is an agricultural journalist and author whose expert writing on tractors is recognised worldwide.