10% off all books and free delivery over £40 - Last Express Posting Date for Christmas: 20th December
Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks.

Becoming Dinah

"A mesmerising Moby Dick inspired coming-of-age gem about self-discovery and moving on."

View All Editions (1)

£7.99 £7.19

In Stock. Same day dispatch on orders before 3pm.

Add To Wishlist
Write A Review Read An Extract

LoveReading4Kids Says

LoveReading4Kids Says

Shortlisted for the Children's Book Award 2020 | August 2019 Debut YA Book of the Month

This unique, incisive novel is an emotionally engrossing road-trip reinvention of Moby Dick with female characters, and a gripping mystery about what main protagonist Dinah is running from to find her place to call home.

Seventeen-year-old Dinah has lived her whole life on a commune and now feels compelled to flee everything she’s ever known. After being home-schooled, a recent period in mainstream schooling has turned her world upside-down, as has turbulent upheavals at home, and then there’s the mystery of what happened between Dinah and new friend Queenie. She shaves off her hair, adopts a new name and flees, illegally driving a VW campervan (her version of Moby Dick’s Pequod ship) with a cantankerous one-legged neighbour for company. While driving, Dinah confronts her many demons, most of which stem from her confusing sense of identity. She’s mixed race, but feels neither black nor white, and she’s attracted to boys and girls.

The road is bumpy, with many revelations and confrontations along the way. Eventually, though, Dinah realises that “the road that took you away has led you all the way back home”. This is a smartly-crafted novel with real resonance, a story that honestly and empathetically imparts an uplifting message to “Always be yourself first…find yourself and be yourself”.

Joanne Owen

Debuts of the Month

Find This Book In

Suitable For:
Other Genres:
Recommendations:

About

Press Reviews

Author

Collections Featuring This Book

Book Awards Featuring This Book

You Might Also Like...

YA readers

Different for Boys

Patrick Ness

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

YA readers

Kissing Emma

Shappi Khorsandi

Paperback

In Stock

£7.19 £7.99

YA readers

Call It What You Want

Brigid Kemmerer

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

YA readers

The State of Grace

Rachael Lucas

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99

YA readers

Plain Jane

Kim Hood

Paperback

In Stock

£8.09 £8.99