Jasmine loves her life in London; she’s got loads of friends, she’s successfully ducking and weaving her way through school and she’s got a lot of attitude. But then her life is turned upside down. Suddenly, Jasmine is moved away from everything she knows when her parents announce that they are taking the family back to Barbados so that Jasmine can lead a better and safer life there. Jasmine’s adventures and the roller-coaster of emotions she goes through are touchingly told by award winning TV presenter and writer Floella Benjamin who has drawn on her own experiences to tell this story.
An enthralling first teen novel by an acclaimed picture book author, tv presenter and charity fundraiser. Jasmine's parents are increasingly worried about the dangers to their precious only daughter in South London so they have decided to move back, after 20 years, to Barbados. Her friends all think it's a wonderful opportunity, but all she knows is that she will miss them and the only life she has known. In Barbados her initial attempts to make friends with local teenagers meet with ridicule and she steals a motor yacht in a foolish attempt to get back to England. Rescued by a fisherman and his son, Jasmine begins school and encounters more prejudice and dislike because she is English, until she is saved from a group of bullies and befriended by the fisherman's son, Devlin. Devlin is fascinated by her stories of England and agrees to help her stowaway on a ship to get back there. This exciting adventure story explores issues involved in migration and feelings of loneliness and being trapped in a place where one doesn't want to be.
Floella Benjamin was born in Trinidad in 1949 and came to England in 1960. She is an actress, presenter, writer, producer, working peer and an active advocate for the welfare and education of children. She is best known as a presenter of the iconic BBC children's television programmes Play School and Play Away, and she continues to make children's programmes. Her broadcasting work has been recognized with a Special Lifetime Achievement BAFTA and OBE. She was appointed a Baroness in the House of Lords in 2010. In 2012 she was presented with the prestigious J. M. Barrie Award by Action for Children's Arts, for her lasting contribution to children's lives through her art. Floella has written thirty books, including Coming to England, which is used as a resource in schools in social and cross-curricular areas. The book was adapted into an award-winning film for BBC Education.
