Just like the contours of a map ripple outwards, so do the challenging events in Fred's life in Sorrento, Victoria during 1999. Winifred (aka Fred, Freddo, Winnie) is eleven years old and her family is changing. Fred's mum died when she was six and she is being raised by her adoptive father Luca and her Pop. When Luca's girlfriend Anika and her son Sam move in, Fred feels like her life is swirling out of control and she is being left off the family map, especially when she learns Anika is pregnant.
At the same time, the impact of the Kosovo War that Fred sees snippets of nightly on the TV, moves closer to Sorrento. A group of 400 Kosovar-Albanian refugees arrive in the middle of the night to stay at the Quarantine Station at Point Nepean as part of 'Operation Safe Haven'. Fred's life becomes entwined with the refugees when she meets Merjeme, Arta and Nora and her moral compass is tested in her attempt to stand up to injustice.
Fred learns a lot about herself during these twelve months as she navigates and tests boundaries to find her place in her changing map of family, friends, her local community and the wider world.
Fred's teacher Mr Khouri says:
"What I think is very important, and truly rare, is to try to gain a different point of view...a little more perspective of the world, which usually entails stepping out from your little corner of it, and seeing through someone else's eyes."
Danielle Binks' heartfelt story encourages us to step out of our little corner of the world...
Read an excerpt of the story HERE.
Happy reading!
