Beverley Naidoo

Twelve-year-old Sade and her brother Femi have to flee Nigeria when their mother is killed and their father won't stop criticizing the military rulers. The woman paid to bring them to London as her children abandons them and they are alone in a new, often hostile, environment.

Escaping from his violent stepfather, twelve-year-old Sipho heads for Johannesburg, where he has heard that gangs of children live on the streets. Surviving hunger and bitter-cold winter nights is hard'but learning when to trust in the 'new' South Africa proves even more difficult.No Turning Back appeared on the short list of both the Guardian a...