'Open your eyes. We will not hurt you.'The boy quietens; his eyes open.'Where are you from?'The boy stares at them both; then says, 'Who will you tell?'Shahana lives alone with her young brother in the shadow of the Line of Control, the border patrolled by Pakistani and Indian soldiers that divides Kashmir in two. Life is hard, but Shahana ekes out a living with her beautiful embroidery. Then she finds a boy lying unconscious near the border. Zahid is from across the Line of Control, and Shahana takes a terrible risk by sheltering him. But how can she give Zahid up to the authorities when she knows he'll be imprisoned - or worse?An unforgettable novel about one young girl in war-torn Kashmir.

The explosion jolts him awake. He sits up, gasping for air, heart thumping.Was the blast real? Perhaps it had only happened in his head, a bad dream. Demons of the dark, his father had called them. 'Push them away. They'll only poison your thoughts. Seek the light and they can't hurt you.'Naveed is sick of war - of the foreign powers and the Taliban, the warlords and the drug barons that together have torn Afghanistan apart. He's had to grow up quickly to take care of his widowed mother and little sister, making what little money he can doing odd jobs and selling at the markets. When he adopts Nasera, a street dog with extraordinary abilities, he has a chance to help rebuild his country. But will a new friend's betrayal crush his dreams of peace forever?From the winter of war comes the spring of hope.'Naveed brings a human face to a war we have heard so much about. John Heffernan has allowed us an important glimpse into the world of an Afghan child and an insight into the complexity and beauty of the Afghan people. In Naveed, we have a name for the thousands of Afghan children who are suffering through this terrible war. Through his optimism, we are offered hope.' - Neil Grant, author of The Ink Bridge

Zafir has a comfortable life in Homs, Syria, until his father, a doctor, is arrested for helping a protester who was campaigning for revolution. While his mother heads to Damascus to try to find out where his father is being held, Zafir stays with his grandmother - until her house is bombed. With his father in prison, his mother absent, his grandmother ill and not a friend left in the city, Zafir must stay with his Uncle Ghazi. But that too becomes dangerous as the city becomes more and more besieged. Will Zafir survive long enough to be reunited with his parents?

Malini lives with her parents and young sister, Banni, in northern Sri Lanka. As the civil war heads towards its catastrophic end, Malini and her family are herded by Tamil Tiger troops towards the coast where they will act as human shields, along with thousands of other Tamil civilians. When Malini's father pushes a mobile phone into her hands and tells her to run off into the forest with Banni, Malini does as she is told. But then the shelling begins, and Malini has no way of finding her mother and father.With the role of parent thrust upon her, Malini has no choice but to travel to her grandfather's village a long way inland. She and Banni will need to keep off the highways and stay alert for soldiers from all sides. But where will the next meal come from? Who can they trust? Where will they shelter? And will they ever be reunited with their parents again?The uplifting story of one girl's odyssey through war-torn Sri Lanka.

'Open your eyes. We will not hurt you.'The boy quietens; his eyes open.'Where are you from?'The boy stares at them both; then says, 'Who will you tell?'Shahana lives alone with her young brother in the shadow of the Line of Control, the border patrolled by Pakistani and Indian soldiers that divides Kashmir in two. Life is hard, but Shahana ekes out a living with her beautiful embroidery. Then she finds a boy lying unconscious near the border. Zahid is from across the Line of Control, and Shahana takes a terrible risk by sheltering him. But how can she give Zahid up to the authorities when she knows he'll be imprisoned - or worse?An unforgettable novel about one young girl in war-torn Kashmir.

The explosion jolts him awake. He sits up, gasping for air, heart thumping.Was the blast real? Perhaps it had only happened in his head, a bad dream. Demons of the dark, his father had called them. 'Push them away. They'll only poison your thoughts. Seek the light and they can't hurt you.'Naveed is sick of war - of the foreign powers and the Taliban, the warlords and the drug barons that together have torn Afghanistan apart. He's had to grow up quickly to take care of his widowed mother and little sister, making what little money he can doing odd jobs and selling at the markets. When he adopts Nasera, a street dog with extraordinary abilities, he has a chance to help rebuild his country. But will a new friend's betrayal crush his dreams of peace forever?From the winter of war comes the spring of hope.'Naveed brings a human face to a war we have heard so much about. John Heffernan has allowed us an important glimpse into the world of an Afghan child and an insight into the complexity and beauty of the Afghan people. In Naveed, we have a name for the thousands of Afghan children who are suffering through this terrible war. Through his optimism, we are offered hope.' - Neil Grant, author of The Ink Bridge

Zafir has a comfortable life in Homs, Syria, until his father, a doctor, is arrested for helping a protester who was campaigning for revolution. While his mother heads to Damascus to try to find out where his father is being held, Zafir stays with his grandmother - until her house is bombed. With his father in prison, his mother absent, his grandmother ill and not a friend left in the city, Zafir must stay with his Uncle Ghazi. But that too becomes dangerous as the city becomes more and more besieged. Will Zafir survive long enough to be reunited with his parents?

Malini lives with her parents and young sister, Banni, in northern Sri Lanka. As the civil war heads towards its catastrophic end, Malini and her family are herded by Tamil Tiger troops towards the coast where they will act as human shields, along with thousands of other Tamil civilians. When Malini's father pushes a mobile phone into her hands and tells her to run off into the forest with Banni, Malini does as she is told. But then the shelling begins, and Malini has no way of finding her mother and father.With the role of parent thrust upon her, Malini has no choice but to travel to her grandfather's village a long way inland. She and Banni will need to keep off the highways and stay alert for soldiers from all sides. But where will the next meal come from? Who can they trust? Where will they shelter? And will they ever be reunited with their parents again?The uplifting story of one girl's odyssey through war-torn Sri Lanka.