From the author of MARRYING AMEERA comes a gritty new story about the child slave trade in Pakistan and one boy's fight for freedom.Ages: 12+ Razaq Nadeem lives in the tribal area of Kala Dhaka, known as Black Mountain, in Pakistan. When an earthquake strikes the area, and his family is lost, Razaq is told by his dying father to flee to Rawalpindi, where his uncle Kamil lives.In the aftermath of the quake, all is chaos. Razaq attends a school set up by aid workers for the homeless, learns some English and helps with the younger boys.But danger is around every corner. Razaq is sold into slavery by a man preying on orphans in the area, and desperate to escape the virtual imprisonment of washing dishes in a teashop for no wages, he heads for the streets, only to be betrayed and returned. Razaq's unusual and exotic looks attract the attention of a customer at the teashop, with disastrous results. Sold once more, he must watch as tahira, a girl he becomes fond of, is sold to a rich man.Razaq and tahira meet again, but despair of their fate as they grow older. A way out is eventually offered by Majeed, a social worker, but only after a hair-raising escape.From the author of MARRYING AMEERA comes another powerful and confronting book that deals with social justice for disenfranchised young people who have no voice or power as they bartered and sold for sex.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 7+ years.

There are 224 pages in this book. This book was published 2012 by HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty Ltd .

Rosanne Hawke lives in rural South Australia in an old Cornish farmhouse. She has written over 16 books for young people including The Keeper, Soraya, the Storyteller, and Mustara. Many of her books have been shortlisted, or named as Notable Books in the CBCA Awards. Across the Creek won the Holyer an Gof Award in Cornwall. Rosanne has been a teacher, and for almost 10 years was an aidworker in Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates. She is a Carclew, Asialink, Varuna, and May Gibbs Fellow, and a Bard of Cornwall. Rosanne enjoys writing about family, multicultural issues, music and cats.