My Name Is Zayn

"I'll find you, Samim," I whispered again and again into the dark. Thirteen-year-old Zayn is a loyal friend, a gifted football player -- and a refugee. Zayn endures a long, dangerous journey from war-torn Afghanistan with his best friend Samim, only to lose him when their dinghy sinks in the English Channel. Zayn arrives in the UK, alone, but convinced Samim is alive -- somewhere. Sent to live in a hotel with other asylum seekers, Zayn starts to find small pieces of normal life -- he goes to school, joins the football team and is making friends. Then children begin disappearing from the hotel, including Zayn's roommate. When the police struggle to find them, Zayn feels he's the only one who can. Hounded by a local gang, as well as demons from his past, Zayn finds hope and help in unlikely places. But can he find his missing friends, old and new, as well as the safe home he's been searching for? Readers will root for quick-witted, brave Zayn in the highly anticipated follow-up to My Name is Samim (Jhalak Prize winner and part of the Read for Empathy collection). This uplifting story of resilience and friendship was inspired by the real-life stories of hundreds of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children who went missing from UK hotels, until the High Court ruled it was unlawful to house them there. Fidan Meikle's writing is heartfelt, wry and evocative, allowing older middle-grade readers to see through the eyes of an often-invisible minority.