The Closest Thing to Flying

Can a Victorian suffragette’s diary teach a refugee girl to be free? Semira doesn’t know where to call home. She and her mum came to England when she was four, brought across the desert and sea by a man who has total control. She’s always moving on, afraid of being caught. She longs for freedom, but has no idea what it feels like. 1891: Hen knows exactly where to call home. Her stifling mother makes sure of that. But Aunt Kitty is opening her eyes to a whole new new world! A world of animal rights, and riding bicycles, and votes for women! When Semira finds Hen’s diary and reads about her fight to be free, will she find the courage to speak out?

• A powerful tale of hope by major author Gill Lewis

• Gill is the author of Sky Hawk and A Story Like the Wind

• She won the UKLA Children’s Book of the Year Award

• Brilliantly mixes history into important modern themes