This is a story about displacement, responsibility and belonging, with ballet providing a meaningful connection between Aya’s past and her emerging life in England. Friendship and practical kindness sit alongside worry about family, paperwork and whether home can be rebuilt.
Aya enters an unfamiliar community while trying to secure a future for her family, and relationships develop through the ballet class.FavourableFavourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.Favourable: the book presents this theme approvingly or positively.
How the book presents it: The narrative is presented as humanising Aya beyond the labels ‘refugee’ and ‘asylum seeker’, with friendship and welcome treated positively.
Talk about: What helps Aya become known as an individual, and whether does acceptance depend on her proving a particular talent?
Children carrying adult responsibilities
Aya translates, answers questions and looks after her younger brother while her mother is unwell and the family’s circumstances remain uncertain.MixedMixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.Mixed: the book presents both supportive and critical signals.
How the book presents it: The book presents competing or mixed signals about this.
Talk about: If Aya feels she must give up her dreams, what support might allow her to have responsibilities without losing her own future?
Memory, war and rebuilding
Past sections recount Aya’s life in Aleppo and her journey through Turkey and Greece, while present events trigger memories of what the family endured.Exploratory / explanatoryExploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.Exploratory / explanatory: the book explains or explores the subject without an established evaluative position.
How the book presents it: The structure gives readers information about displacement through Aya’s perspective, with traumatic events disclosed in brief, expanding recollections rather than graphic scenes.
Talk about: How does moving between past and present change what we understand about Aya’s idea of home?
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Why It May Be Worth Reading
It may help a child see an asylum-seeking character as a whole person rather than a label, while opening space to think about friendship, welcome and the unfair responsibilities children can carry.
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What Deserves Attention
Some difficult material is present: war, forced movement, separation from a father, an unwell and traumatised mother, prejudice, uncertainty over status, and stress from adult responsibilities. Traumatic experiences are reportedly revealed gradually rather than described in graphic detail.
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A Conversation Worth Having
How does Aya’s care for her family affect the choices she makes, and what might responsible welcome look like when someone is carrying pressures that other children may not see?
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Reading Approach
Read alongside the child if the family wants to pause over war, displacement or family separation. The alternating timelines may make Aya’s past emerge gradually; discuss feelings and choices without requiring the child to compare them with real experiences.
Confidence & Basis
Theme indicators describe how the book presents a topic; they are not a verdict on the whole book or your family's values. Confidence reflects how much book-specific material was checked. Only part of the book information was available, so some details remain unconfirmed.
What remains unconfirmed
Belonging beyond labels: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Children carrying adult responsibilities: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
Memory, war and rebuilding: Some details of this treatment remain unclear.
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