AMINA

A series of six fiction titles that invites young readers aged 11-14 years to enter the fragile worlds of children living in contemporary war zones. Amina lives on the edges of Mogadishu. Her family’s house has been damaged in Somalia’s long civil war, but they continue to live there, reluctant to leave their home.

Amina’s world is shattered when government forces come to arrest her artist father because his art has been officially censored, deemed too political and un-Islamic. Then rebel forces kidnap Amina’s brother, forcing him to become a soldier in Somalia’s brutal ongoing war. Although her mother and grandmother are still with her, Amina feels vulnerable and abandoned. Secretly, Amina begins to create her own artwork in the streets and the abandoned buildings to give herself a sense of hope and to let out the burden of her heart. Her artwork explodes into Mogadishu’s underground world, providing a voice and hope for people all over the city who hope for a better, more secure future. Lyn White has been a primary school teacher-librarian and ESL teacher for more than twenty years. She is passionate about children’s literature and has great expertise in engaging and teaching students with quality texts. Her work with refugee and migrant children motivated her to create a series that spoke of their experiences, and led to the Through My Eyes series. The authors of the individual novels have been carefully selected for their knowledge and experience of the war zones in which their stories are set.