The Freezies

by Farrukh Dhondy

Overview

Suleikha, Leo and Kai, a group of 12-year-olds, known as ‘The Freezies’, befriend the intriguing Mr Christaki, a traveller who camps with his converted bus on their village green. Exposed as an illegal immigrant from Syria, he goes on the run with his four-year-old daughter. The Freezies come up with a risky and audacious scheme to reveal his desperate plight on national TV and manage to rescue him.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781990598289
Publisher:	Tradewind Books
Publication date:	06/01/2024
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	144
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Farrukh Dhondy is a highly acclaimed British Indian writer of fiction, non-fiction,stage drama, TV and films. His latest books include Prophet of Love, Rumi: A New Collection and an autobiography entitled Fragments against My Ruin: A Life. He is the recipient of numerous prizes, including the prestigious Whitbread Book Award for the novel Bombay Duck. He lives in London, England.

Editorial Reviews

"A unique perspective on important topics such as: refugees, immigration, asylum, prejudice, stereotyping, community, drug use, friendship, loneliness, unemployment, poverty, unions, social justice, and compassion. Highly Recommended."

CM: Canadian Review of Materials

"Dhondy’s writing is fluent and vivid, and the children’s attempts to save their new friend from deportation show courage and tenaciousness . . . (and) there is still plenty here to amuse readers of eleven and up."

The Literary Review UK

2024-05-04
The Freezies, three determined social outcasts, try to help a quiet man in need.

Kai, Leo, and Suleikha (who goes by “Sully”) live in an English village. Some locals, who wish to keep away “squatters and travellers,” quickly become outraged when an unfamiliar van towing a trailer shows up on the common. The driver, Mr. Christaki, plays the violin beautifully. When a small mob of residents recruits the police to evict him, Leo’s parents, a lawyer and a barrister, instead invite Mr. Christaki to relocate to their property and hire him to teach Leo violin. Following the winter holidays, Mr. Christaki returns from a trip to London with a 4-year-old girl, and he’s suspiciously vague about her parents’ whereabouts and how long she’ll be staying. Then one day, the van, trailer, and both inhabitants are gone. In alternating points of view, the young narrators recount these events—including a revelation about Mr. Christaki’s identity—with delightful frankness. Leo, who reads white; Kai, who has Jamaican and Polish heritage; and Sully, who is of Indian descent, are by turns unintentionally amusing (“We don’t play. We hang out or chill”) and trenchant in their observations (“Parents don’t know how hard it is to make friends and keep them”). The trio, who share strong convictions about standing up for others, also learn about trade unions, asylum law, and xenophobia over the course of the story.

Young activists set an example for their community in this accessible adventure that conveys both humor and pathos. (Fiction. 12-16)

Kirkus Reviews