Age Group: 9 - 12 Years, 12+ Years

Description:

Paris, 1940. Eleven-year-old Safiyyah lives a wonderfully ordinary life in the Grand Mosque of Paris, where her Algerian Muslim family share quarters alongside the Imam. Her days revolve around school, beloved old maps in her favourite library, and Saturday afternoons with her best friend Isabelle — until the Nazis march in and her world crumbles overnight. Isabelle's family flees, Jewish neighbours start vanishing, and even the streets near her own home turn dangerous. Safiyyah longs desperately to do something — anything — to fight back. So why is her gentle father, who has always taught her to stand up for what is right, behaving so strangely and doing absolutely nothing? When Baba is arrested by the Nazis, Safiyyah uncovers an astonishing secret: the Mosque has been quietly sheltering hundreds of Jewish children and adults, smuggling them to safety through the dark catacombs beneath the city. Now it falls to a frightened young girl to find the courage to step into the perilous Resistance herself. Inspired by an extraordinary true story of interfaith heroism — a luminous, heart-stopping debut from Hiba Noor Khan, perfect for thoughtful readers aged nine and up.