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The Fox Girl and The White Gazelle

Book Synopsis

Reema runs to remember the life she left behind in Syria.
Caylin runs to find what she’s lost.

Under the grey Glasgow skies, twelve-year-old refugee Reema is struggling to find her place in a new country, with a new language and without her brother. But she isn’t the only one feeling lost. Her Glasgwegian neighbour Caylin is lonely and lashing out.

When they discover an injured fox and her cubs hiding on their estate, the girls form a wary friendship. And they are more alike than they could have imagined: they both love to run.

As Reema and Caylin learn to believe again, in themselves and in others, they find friendship, freedom and the discovery that home isn’t a place, it’s the people you love.

Heartfelt and full of hope, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle is an uplifting story about the power of friendship and belonging. Inspired by her work with young asylum seekers, debut novelist Victoria Williamson’s stunning story of displacement and discovery will speak to anyone who has ever asked ‘where do I belong?’

Our Review Panel says...

“Every refugee has a story to tell. This is Reema’s.” Author Victoria Williamson is an experienced primary teacher who has seen first hand the difficulties faced by child refugees resettling in the UK. Her debut novel, The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, is in part inspired by her own experiences of teaching very young refugees in Glasgow and the story is a compelling and compassionate recount of one girl’s resettlement and an unlikely friendship with a troubled neighbour. The narrative unfolds with chapters alternating between the two girls’ perspectives. Initially the pair feel like they are worlds apart and that friendship is out of the question. Slowly, as the girls work together to nurture an injured fox found near their homes, they begin to see that they have more in common than they thought and a friendship steadily blossoms. The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle is an important story addressing topical issues and hugely relevant themes of overcoming difference, learning to trust and connecting to others in the face of hopelessness. Both Reema and Caylin have stories that need to be heard and the book is an essential addition to primary libraries and upper KS2 classrooms…

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The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle

A resource pack provided by the author to accompany the book The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle.

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