13 Hours by Narinder Dhami
Book of the Week: 11 October 2015
Anni has not long started secondary school but has to rush home every day to the crumbling old house she shares with her mum Jamila, because her mother is an invalid who gets anxious if she is a minute late. Anni’s dad died when she was young, leaving the two of them struggling to pay the bills and cope with her mother’s disability and agoraphobia. One evening after school, she finds Jamila in a worried state because her persistent fear of intruders makes her think someone has broken in to their house; only this time it’s real. Four people in balaclavas take Anni and Jamila hostage and Anni thinks it is something to do with a visit to their town the next day from the Prime Minister. What are they planning and how can she find out and stop them?
This is not only a tense page-turner but an insight into the life of a young carer who is clever and resourceful but who doesn’t realise just how tough her life is.
One of Narinder Dhami’s other books: Bang, Bang, You’re Dead!, has been borrowed many times from the School Library, perhaps this one will follow suit.