Book Descriptions
for The Girl Who Saw Lions by Berlie Doherty
From The United States Board on Books for Young People (USBBY)
Nine-year-old Abela’s encounter with lions in the dark Tanzanian night called upon all of the resources she had acquired up to that point in her short but loss-filled life. It also proved to be the well from which she’d draw in the harrowing months to come. Thirteen-year-old Rosa, an ice skater in northern England, starts to lose her balance as her mother prepares to adopt a child. The intersecting stories of Abela and Rosa and their shifting defini tions of family and home teach them to trust in the synchronicity of their experiences as they reclaim their self-confidence, trust, and security. 2009 USBBY Outstanding International Books List, NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. bef
Originally published as Abela: The Girl Who Saw Lions in English by Andersen Press Great Britain, in 2007.
From the Publisher
Two girls, from very different places, are brought together in a tale of loss, courage and family.
Abela has lost everything, and now she must leave her home in Tanzania and flee to Britain.
Rosa's struggling to cope with her mum's wish to adopt a child.
When they are brought together, will Abela and Rosa ever be able to love one another like sisters?
From the Carnegie Medal-winning author Berlie Doherty, The Girl Who Saw Lions is a powerful and moving story, inspired by the author's visit to Africa.