Books
The Year the Gypsies Came
The Year the Gypsies Came
Set in apartheid-era South Africa and told through the eyes of eleven-year-old Emily Iris, the story follows a young girl witnessing the slow unraveling of her dysfunctional family and the fractures in her country.
When a nomadic family arrives and parks their trailer on the Iris family’s front lawn, their presence triggers a series of ev
Set in apartheid-era South Africa and told through the eyes of eleven-year-old Emily Iris, the story follows a young girl witnessing the slow unraveling of her dysfunctional family and the fractures in her country.
When a nomadic family arrives and parks their trailer on the Iris family’s front lawn, their presence triggers a series of events that permanently alters Emily’s life. Throughout this turbulent spring, the family’s elderly Zulu night watchman, Buza, helps Emily hold together her fragmented inner world through the grounding wisdom of ancient folktales.
The novel has been widely praised for its emotional depth, atmospheric storytelling, and strong sense of place:
“A new book with an old and wise heart...may very well have the makings of a classic.” —The Guardian
“Unforgettable and poignant… reminiscent of favourites such as To Kill a Mockingbird and Lovely Bones.”
— Angus & Robertson
“Exquisitely narrated… with great depth and meaning.”
— Kirkus Reviews
“A great storm is about to break…”
—Chicago Tribune
Ruby Red
The Year the Gypsies Came
Seventeen-year-old Ruby Winters acts like everyone else at Barnard High. She's a school prefect and is pretty, athletic and popular. But Ruby must hide a secret about her life behind the liberal and affluent walls of her family's home.
It is 1976 in Johannesburg South Africa, and apartheid keeps the country divided, where blacks and whites
Seventeen-year-old Ruby Winters acts like everyone else at Barnard High. She's a school prefect and is pretty, athletic and popular. But Ruby must hide a secret about her life behind the liberal and affluent walls of her family's home.
It is 1976 in Johannesburg South Africa, and apartheid keeps the country divided, where blacks and whites cannot live or socialize together. In a world of haves and have-nots, Ruby's mother, an art gallery owner and patron of black artists and father, a lawyer who fights for the rights of the underdog, break all the rules by allowing a young black township artist, Julian to live covertly and illegally in their home. This is their family secret and one that Ruby guards fiercely.
Julian becomes the brother she never had, and a deep friendship grows between them. Ruby's life gets even more complicated when she falls for Johann, the blue-eyed, Afrikaans, rugby captain of a rival school. Handsome and charming Johann brings her the exciting rush of first love, but his presence brings hushed whispers and disapproving glances from all that around her. As Ruby's popularity at school begins to wane, there is mounting fear and tension about the safety of Julian and her family at home.
Ruby's world is turned upside down when the Soweto Riots break out. The deaths of young black students during the riots lit the first bloody spark for change in South Africa.
As Ruby's life is dramatically and radically changed as a result of the riots, she risks losing all that she loves and must find a way to endure and survive.
This is a story of acceptance, in all its many forms, and the courage of a young girl to stand by her beliefs in the face of being ostracized by her peers in a society that saw the world through a skewed and crooked lens.
Finding Danny
Finding Danny
In her search to find her lost dog, Bree Davies discovers something unexpected: herself.
Twelve year-old Bree is devastated when her beloved Border Collie, Danny goes missing after her busy TV reporter mom leaves the gate open to their Santa Monica home.
In her search to find Danny, Bree is thrust into the world of animals in need. With th
In her search to find her lost dog, Bree Davies discovers something unexpected: herself.
Twelve year-old Bree is devastated when her beloved Border Collie, Danny goes missing after her busy TV reporter mom leaves the gate open to their Santa Monica home.
In her search to find Danny, Bree is thrust into the world of animals in need. With the help and guidance of free-spirited animal rescuer, Rayleen, Bree's heart is opened to the plight of the dogs in the downtown Vox Street shelter. Her emptiness about her own loss shifts into action as she goes on a quest to save the soon-to-be-euthanized shelter dogs while her tireless search for Danny continues.
Author's Note: I am especially proud of this book because it allowed me to bring together my two passions: writing and rescuing dogs.
Having been in the trenches of animal rescue in Los Angeles for many years, and being the author of two previous young adult books, I hope this book will enlighten and inspire young readers to reach out and help others, whether they are two or four legged.
Finding Danny is about the search for a beloved pet, but it is ultimately the story of a girl finding meaning and purpose in her young life.
I do hope you enjoy it!
—Linzi Glass