The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks

What would be the result of the year that changed everything for Winifred? But she felt inside that she had a purpose and when a particular person made an impact on her life, she went with what she felt was right. As events changed around them, Winifred felt cut adrift. But more was to take their interest when they found out 400 refugees were to be arriving and housed in a “safe haven” nearby. Their teacher, Mr Khouri taught geography and maps which Winifred was fascinated by, and he always told them “Not all those who wander are lost” which stuck in Winifred’s mind. Aiden was another friend and soon Sam joined the group. Winifred had a few friends at school and was close to Jed who lived next door. Pop was at a Rehabilitation Centre recovering from the fall he’d had, and Winifred visited him every weekend, and Wednesdays after school. She’d lost her mother Maria when she was six and still missed her terribly and didn’t want Sam or Anika in her house. But then Luca’s girlfriend Anika and her son Sam moved in and suddenly Winifred (who was called Fred, Freddo and Winnie) felt her house was crowded. Winifred was eleven and living with her adoptive father Luca – a policeman - and until recently her Pop. When 400 Kosovar-Albanian refugees arrive in the middle of the night to be housed at one of Australia's 'safe havens' on an isolated headland not far from Sorrento, their fate becomes intertwined with the lives of Fred and her family, as she navigates one extraordinary year that will change them all.Ī middle-grade coming-of-age story about the bonds of family and the power of compassion for fans of The Bone Sparrow, Wolf Hollow and The Thing About Jellyfish.

More and more it feels like a land-grab for family and Fred is the one being left off the map.īut even as the world feels like it's spinning out of control, a crisis from the other side of it comes crashing in. But now Pop is at the Rye Rehabilitation Centre recovering from a fall Luca's girlfriend, Anika, has moved in and Fred's just found out that Anika and Luca are having a baby of their own.

Fred's mother died when she was six and she's been raised by her Pop and adoptive father, Luca, ever since. But that's another way maps lie, because it felt like the distance travelled was a whole lot further than that.'įred's family is a mess. 'I was eleven when everything started and twelve by the end.

The Year the Maps Changed by Danielle Binks