The Year the Maps Changed

By Danielle Binks

‘I was eleven when everything started and twelve by the end. But that’s another way maps lie, because it felt like the distance travelled was a whole lot further than that.’

Sorrento, Victoria – 1999
Fred’s family is a mess. Her mother died when she was six and she’s been raised by her Pop and adoptive father, Luca, ever since. But now Pop’s had to go away; Luca’s girlfriend, Anika, and her son have moved in; and Fred’s just found out that Anika and Luca are having a baby of their own. More and more it feels like a land-grab for family and Fred is the one being left off the map.

Even as the world feels like it’s spinning out of control, a crisis from the other side of it comes crashing in. When 400 Kosovar-Albanian refugees arrive in the middle of the night to be housed on an isolated headland not far from Sorrento, their fate becomes intertwined with the lives of Fred and her family, as she navigates one extraordinary year that will change them all.

AWARDS & NOMINATIONS

Notables: Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA), 2021 Book of the Year Younger Readers Category
Shortlisted: Prime Minister’s Literary Awards 2021, Children’s Literature
Shortlisted: Readings Children’s Book Prize 2021
Shortlisted: Les Carlyon Literary Prize
Shortlisted: 2021 Booksellers’ Choice Awards for Kids’ Reading Guide Book of the Year
Longlisted: Book Links Award for Children’s Historical Fiction 2021
Longlisted: Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA), 2021 Book of the Year for Younger Children (ages 7-12)
Longlisted: Australian Book Designers Association (ABDA), 2021 Best Designed Children’s Fiction Book (Astred Hicks)
Longlisted: Children’s Indie Book Awards 2021

The Year the Maps Changed

The Year the Maps Changed