Cross, Gillian. Where I Belong.

Cross, Gillian.    Where I Belong.    

Holiday House     2011  245p  17.95    978-0-8234-2332-3      

ms/hs        Conflict          E-BN  

Khadija emigrates to London for a better life. Shortly thereafter she is discovered by a fashion mogul and engaged to model her new line of clothes. A disgraceful friend discovers her job and

kidnaps her brother for a ransom. The action is believable and fast paced.        

The author has written a fast paced novel with believable characters and a

realistic portrayal of Somalia as a country.

     Khadija’s father smuggles her out of the country so that she will have a

better life with some fellow Somalians in London. Life is not easy for her as

she struggles to earn money to send back to her family in Somalia. They do

communication by e-mail when her family can get the money together to pay for

the service. It is this form of communication that destroys the privacy needed

for her contract to model clothes with Sandy Dexter (fashion mogul).  

     Sandy Dexter’s new fashion season needs a new focus. Inadvertently she

discovers the beauty of the fabric found in Somalia. As part of her research she

goes to the area in London where the Somalian congregate. While there she finds

a beautiful girl (Khadija) who she wants to model her fashions. (The name

Qarsoon-The Hidden One_ was created for her.) From this point on mystery,

intrigue, secret meetings and more find there way into the story’s plot. The

reader’s anticipation will be held until the last streaming video from Somalia

and the last kidnapped is disclosed.

    A real good read for a young adult reader.        McNeil, Linda