Rating: *** 3 stars

Anthony Robinson and Annemarie Young, illustrated by June Allan,
Gervelie's Journey
Frances Lincoln.

Non-Fiction

Ages 8 -10

The true story of a young refugee forced to leave her home in the Republic of Congo and travel in search of safety. In diary form, accompanied by artwork and photographs of the girl, Gervelie tells how her family is torn apart as fighting breaks out in her home city of Brazzaville. With her father she escapes to the coast, but he is hunted down and close relatives are shot. She rejoins her mother and a terrifying new stepfather in Brazzaville, later travelling to live with her grandmother to the Ivory Coast. When war breaks out there, she and her father flee to Europe. The fear and uncertainty of life as an asylum seeker are evident in the girl's words, magnified by her distress at the lack of contact with her mother. The sequence of events is sometimes confusing, but so is the girl's life. there is a happy ending of sorts when father and daughter rebuild a life in Norfolk, but their status and thus their future remain uncertain. A brief postscript gives background information on the recent history of the Republic of Congo. Further titles in the series are promised on refugees from Chechnya, Iraq and Bolivia, which should help children to understnad the plight of individuals in such political hotspots.

Sue Unstead