When the Ground is Hard

This CBCA short-listed book also won the LA Times Book Prize for Young Adult Literature and is a stunning and heartrending mystery set in a Swaziland boarding school about two girls of different castes who bond over a shared copy of Jane Eyre.

Adele loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school will be great with her best friend Delia at her side. Then Delia dumps her for a new girl with more money, and Adele is forced to share a room with Lottie, the school pariah, who doesn't pray and defies teachers' orders.

As they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grow on Adele, and together they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. When a boy goes missing on campus, Adele and Lottie must work together to solve the mystery, in the process learning the true meaning of friendship.

A Children's Book Council of Australia's 2020 Notable Book, Highly Commended in the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, winner of the 2019 Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection, winner of the Children's Book Committee's 2020 Josette Frank Award and shortlisted for the 2020 LA Times Book Prize for Young Adults.

ISBN: 9781760524814 | Published: 3 June 2019 | Paperback | 272 pages