The Secret of Golden Island by Natasha Farrant

What will two children risk to steal an island? From Costa-winning author of Voyage of the Sparrowhawk.

'Though Skylar's old friends felt sorry for her, they were too afraid to talk to her. Yakov's old friends were far away, blown across continents by war.'

Skylar is longing for the grandfather she had before his stroke and trying to survive the school bully when she meets Yakov. He is just desperate to go home. They recognise something in each other. A need for friendship, but something else fizzy beneath the surface. A refusal to accept the bad hand that life has dealt them. A reckless desire to change things up for the better.

So when the island just off the coast of their town goes up for sale, it's no surprise they want it.

But how can two children possibly buy an island? And what will they risk to be able call it their own?

Exquisitely told, with compassion and empathy, an unmissable, heart-wrenching, life-affirming novel from the inimitable Natasha Farrant.