Smiling for Strangers
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Cover Story
This issue’s cover is from a stunning new picture book, Mary’s Secret by David McKee (Andersen Press, 0 86264 909 9, £9.99). An ecological fable about doing without cars, McKee’s story with its bright pictures full of well observed detail is set within Mary’s cheerful family and at her school. His bold, painterly illustrations use the page so confidently and dextrously that their quirky, decorative perspectives seem entirely natural. Thanks to Andersen Press for their help in producing this September cover.
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Smiling for Strangers
Nina's story reveals the horrors of conflict in the former Yugoslavia that induce a desperate, young girl to stow away on an aid lorry and enter England on the strength of a letter found in an attic. The new life for which she is so desperate is fraught with fresh kinds of danger, maybe not bombs and armed, venal men, but others, who will take advantage and seek to deceive the easy pickings of a young, naive girl with a fragile grasp of English and scant knowledge of the 'civilised' world. This is a well-paced read that stretches credibility at times, but nevertheless is worth introducing to readers who like a thought-provoking book.
