What the birds see

de Sonya Hartnett

Forcibly removed from his depressed mother and rejected by his father, nine-year-old Adrian is sent to live with his exhausted, intolerant grandmother. When his only friend at school rejects him, Adrian becomes even more achingly alone. Then three children move next door (just as three children disappear from another neighbourhood), and Adrian forms a tenuous friendship with the mysterious oldest girl, Nicole. Suggested level: secondary.