The Year the Maps Changed - by Danielle Binks (Hardcover)

About the Book

In 1999 Sorrento, Victoria, twelve-year-old Winifred (Fred) grapples with the meaning of home and family amidst a refugee crisis that has divided her town.

Book Synopsis

Wolf Hollow meets The Thing About Jellyfish in Danielle Binks's debut middle grade novel set in 1999, where a twelve-year-old girl grapples with the meaning of home and family amidst a refugee crisis that has divided her town.

"Timeless and beautiful, and it deserves to be read by people of all ages." --Printz Award-winning author Melina Marchetta

If you asked eleven-year-old Fred to draw a map of her family, it would be a bit confusing. Her birth father was never in the picture, her mom died years ago, and her stepfather, Luca, is now expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. According to Fred's teacher, maps don't always give the full picture of our history, but more and more it feels like Fred's family is redrawing the line of their story . . . and Fred is feeling left off the map.

Soon after learning about the baby, Fred hears that the town will be taking in hundreds of refugees seeking safety from a war-torn Kosovo. Some people in town, like Luca, think it's great and want to help. Others, however, feel differently, causing friction within the community.

Fred, who has been trying to navigate her own feelings of displacement, ends up befriending a few refugees. But what starts as a few friendly words in Albanian will soon change their lives forever, not to mention completely redrawing Fred's personal map of friends, family, and home, and community.

Review Quotes

"I cared so much for that family, especially the gorgeous relationship between Fred and Sam and what it says to us about being part of communities on a local and global scale. It's timeless and beautiful and it deserves to be read by people of all ages." - Melina Marchetta, Printz Award-winning author
"A poignant, emotional coming-of-age story." - Kirkus Reviews
"A thoughtful consideration of adolescent frames of reference, morality, and the power of people to give places their true meaning." - Booklist Online