Hidden

"Hidden" is the first in a cycle of three novels set on Hayling Island, off the South Coast of England, near the Isle of Wight. Each novel is stand alone but a minor character in the previous novel becomes the major character in the next. "Hidden" is a brave novel, tackling the issues surrounding Middle-Eastern immigration into the UK through the eyes of a British teenager. "Hidden" is a literary, coming-of-age novel dealing with judgement, courage, preconceptions and the difficulty of sorting right from wrong. "Hidden" is humorous, yet hard-hitting and speaks with a voice which teenagers will connect with. Fourteen year old Alix lives at the bottom of Hayling Island near the beach. It is a quiet backwater, far removed from world events such as war, terror and refugees. Alix has never even given a thought to asylum seekers, she has enough problems of her own: Dad has a new life that doesn't include her, Grandpa is dead and Mum is helpless and needy. But when Alix sees the local gang shouting racist abuse at Samir, the foreign boy in her class, she finds herself sticks up for him and they become friends. Alix begins to learn about the life Samir has left behind in Iraq, which isn't all about suicide bombers but centred on playing football in the street with friends, going to school and helping his Mum with the shopping. Then one day on the beach Alix and Samir pull a drowning man out of the incoming tide: Mohammed, an illegal immigrant and a student. Mohammed has been tortured by the militia in Iraq for helping the allied forces and has spent all his money to escape. Alone, helpless, and desperate not to be deported, Mohammed's destiny lies in Alix and Samir's hands. Samir knows that life as an immigrant can be cruel, but he begs Alix to help him hide Mohammed. However, hiding an injured refugee is fraught with difficulties and Lindy Bellows, the bad girl at school is already sniffing around. Lindy's brother, Terrence, is in the racist gang. How long before Lindy gives them away? Faced with the biggest moral dilemma of her life, what will Alix do, and who can she trust? As Alix weighs up her own commitments versus those of a helpless stranger; human rights issues versus the law; and finally what you can see versus what is hidden, the reader is taken on an extraordinarily gripping journey through a moral minefield of decisions to discover, with Alix, that knowing right from wrong isn't always easy.

About the Author :
Miriam Halahmy is married with two grown-up children. She is a Londoner with a love of the sea. Her family moved to Hayling Island off the south coast of England in the 1970s and she has been visiting the island ever since. Miriam was a teacher for over twenty years, working particularly with special needs students. She has worked with a range of people throughout her career, including the homeless, ex-offenders, refugees and asylum seekers. She currently runs creative writing workshops in London, mentors writers and acts as an independent editor. She enjoys writing contemporary realistic fiction with strong themes such as courage and independence and her preferred landscapes are the city and the sea. She has published short and long fiction for adults, teenagers and children; poetry; articles; book reviews and educational resources. Hidden is her first novel for young adults.