Two strong minded young people battle against the prejudices of their countries in this gripping adventure set in a strongly realised imaginary world. Rain is the talented daughter of a glass maker. Her father uses her skills to create his famous designs but her work must be kept a secret as girls are of no account in her world. Far, far away lives Peri, a humble falconer right on the lowest rung of a society ruled by inequality. Their paths cross when Peri rescues Rain from bandits as she travels on a mission to his country. How the two of them stand up against the authorities is excitingly told against a vivid and richly described background.
Rain designs exquisite stained glass for the windows of her city. But the law is clear-it is forbidden for girls to be part of the glassmakers' guild. To keep her secret hidden, she leaves home and travels to the strange new country of Magharna. When Peri witnesses Rain's capture by a gang of bandits, both his fate and his heart become tied to hers. They escape the outlaws, but Peri and his family of falconers are untouchables who are scorned by all, and Rain is not allowed to be part of their lives. Can Rain and Peri's love survive the prejudices against them? And with the country on the brink of disaster will they be able to stop their world from smashing apart?
Julia Golding is the author of over thirty books for children and young adults. Her stories are set all over the world (and in some new worlds too) and span the centuries.
In her first year as a published author, she won the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize (Gold Award), was shortlisted for the Costa Children’s Book Award, longlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal, and won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize. In the US, Secret of the Sirens won the honor book medal of the Green Earth Book Award. Dragonfly won the 2012 Beehive Book Award, Young Adult Division, given by the Children's Literature Association of Utah and voted on by readers in schools and public libraries.
She has sold over half a million books worldwide and they are translated into more than fifteen languages.
Julia Golding lives in Oxford with her husband and three children.
Click here to read a Q&A with the author from top children's publisher Egmont.
