The Year the Maps Changed

Wolf Hollow meets The Thing About Jellyfish in Danielle Binks’s debut middle grade novel set in 1999, where a twelve-year-old girl grapples with the meaning of home and family amidst a refugee crisis that has divided her town.

"Timeless and beautiful, and it deserves to be read by people of all ages." ―Printz Award-winning author Melina Marchetta

If you asked eleven-year-old Fred to draw a map of her family, it would be a bit confusing. Her birth father was never in the picture, her mom died years ago, and her stepfather, Luca, is now expecting a baby with his new girlfriend. According to Fred’s teacher, maps don’t always give the full picture of our history, but more and more it feels like Fred’s family is redrawing the line of their story . . . and Fred is feeling left off the map.

Soon after learning about the baby, Fred hears that the town will be taking in hundreds of refugees seeking safety from a war-torn Kosovo. Some people in town, like Luca, think it’s great and want to help. Others, however, feel differently, causing friction within the community.

Fred, who has been trying to navigate her own feelings of displacement, ends up befriending a few refugees. But what starts as a few friendly words in Albanian will soon change their lives forever, not to mention completely redrawing Fred’s personal map of friends, family, and home, and community.

As her town and her own family draw new lines, where will Fred find her place?

• A 1999 Setting: Step back in time to a world on the edge of a new millennium, where the Kosovo refugee crisis makes headlines and changes a small Australian town forever.
• Dealing with Grief: With her mom gone and her stepfather, Luca, starting a new life, Fred must navigate her own feelings of displacement and what it means to belong.
• Found Family: As Fred befriends Merjeme, a girl from Kosovo, she discovers that family isn't just about blood, but about the people who help you find your way home.
• Social Justice for Kids: When her town is divided over welcoming refugees, Fred must decide for herself what's right in this thought-provoking exploration of empathy and community.

Danielle Binks is an author and literary agent from Melbourne, Australia. The Year the Maps Changed was her debut novel and has been shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Literary Award and was a Children’s Book Council of Australia Notable Book. She has since written her first young adult novel, The Monster of Her Age, and has edited and contributed to Begin, End, Begin, an anthology of new Australian young adult writing, which won an Australian Book Industry Award. To learn more about Danielle, visit her online at www.daniellebinks.com.