Stars wrapped in Skin

The seventeen-year-old Aisha is determined to end her life today. She’s prepared everything down to the last detail. She remains committed to her plan even when, seconds before her death, she glimpses a boy about to cross the street in front of a lorry. The next things she knows she arrives at Transit 1: an airport-like place, a waiting room for people who need to figure something out before they return to relive their lives, or continue to their final destination. There, she meets Armin, the boy she could’ve saved.

She meets various unexpected faces in Transit 1, including her own grandma, who appears to have never left the waiting room, and Lotta, who gives Aisha the best hugs she can remember. In the control tower, she’s given a VR headset to replay scenes from her own life: moments with family, friends and the people she has left behind. Her gut feeling tells her not to look. Some memories are too painful. But each snippet teaches her something new, not only about the people she knows, but about herself. Gradually, she realises that life may not be as hopeless as Krampus, her inner saboteur, made it out to be.

As Aisha and Armin grow ever closer, Aisha plucks up the courage to face the choices she’s made – including the last one of them all. They eventually decide to return to save each other.

Van Praag tackles a sensitive and difficult subject in this book, but the love that grows between Aisha and Armin brings lightness and hope to the story. The title is based on Armin’s words, themselves inspired by the poet Rumi: ‘We are stars wrapped in skin.’

• A comforting story about hopelessness, loss, friendship and validation.

• A love story that transcends the boundary between life and death

• Accessible and written with a light touch, about an important subject that affects many young people.

• Recommended for readers aged 15 and up