The Sleeping Baobab Tree

By Paula Leyden

A funny, heartwarming story set in modern-day Zambia.

One morning twelve-year-old Fred wakes up with an unaccountable sense of foreboding, which his friend Bul-Boo, one of the twins from next door, insists is just in his imagination. However, the feeling persists – and grows stronger when Fred’s terrifying great-granny, Nokokulu, asks him to accompany her on a trip to an ancient burial site known as the Place of Death. Then Bul-Boo overhears her parents talking about patients going missing from her mother’s AIDS clinic, and when one of the patients turns out to be Fred’s Aunt Kiki, the children suddenly view Nokokulu’s trip in a different light. Could the two events somehow be linked? As the three friends and the old woman journey into the heart of Zambia, each of them hopes to right wrongs, both past and present … but dark clouds are gathering and ancient magic is in the air.

Categories: Fiction

For readers aged: 9+

  • Publication details:
  • Format: Paperback
  • ISBN: 9781406327939
  • Published: 02 May 2013
  • Price: £5.99
  •  
  • Size: 198 x 129 mm
  • Pages: 240

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Customer reviews

Reviews

'The narration is gripping' Inis

'Leyden is a born storyteller.' The Irish Times

'A beautifully written book that will hold readers' attention until the very end' Recommended Reads 2013

'Set in Zambia, this is an atmospheric and thought- provoking story in which ancient and modern worlds collide.' Irish Times

'A mind-opening novel . . . a wonderfully sustained piece of comic writing in a novel that nevertheless engages with serious contemporary themes' Irish Times

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