We’re Not Going Home Today
A gripping story about resilience and the strength to start over again
Imagine coming home from school one day to find your dad standing there with a car packed with belongings and the engine running. You climb in and, after days of driving, it turns out to be the start of a completely new life. Your life. A life you don’t want, but as a child in a foreign country, you don’t have much say.
That’s what happens to ten-year-old Mirza. He loses his familiar surroundings and has to survive in a strange country where he doesn’t speak the language. He used to live in a modern terraced house, but his new home has no hot water and some of the windows are broken. There’s no fridge, no washing machine and no nearby supermarket, but all these ‘inconveniences’ are nothing compared to Mirza’s biggest challenges: accepting the situation, having to learn a new language and, most importantly, making new friends.
At first, Mirza is angry with his dad and resists his new reality, seeing it as temporary and counting down the days until he can return home. He has ‘conversations’ inside his head with Lucas, his former best friend, trying to give himself hope, and he also tries to run away. Gradually, though, he moves on from his past and starts to build a future in his new homeland. He forms a special friendship with a girl, passes an important test and is even allowed to join the football team.
Age: 10+
A refugee’s journey in reverse
Written with great empathy, making it easy to identify with the characters
Beautiful illustrations and stunning design
“A beautifully designed, daring and important book: one of the best in Enne Koens’s oeuvre.”
“Enne Koens admirably makes it possible for everyone to experience the feeling of displacement.”
“Enne Koens once again demonstrates what a good writer she is. She succeeds in describing the inner world of a confused child in a light tone convincingly, subtly and with humour. It makes you want more.”
“Enne Koens admirably makes it possible for everyone to experience the feeling of displacement.”
“Enne Koens once again demonstrates what a good writer she is. She succeeds in describing the inner world of a confused child in a light tone convincingly, subtly and with humour. It makes you want more.”
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