A poignant story filled with heart-warming courage as a young girl takes on a harrowing journey to be reunited with her mother
Ami lives on Culion, an island in the Philippines for people who have leprosy. Her mother is among the infected. Ami loves her home: with its blue seas and lush forests, Culion contains all she knows and loves. But the arrival of malicious government official Mr. Zamora changes her world forever. Islanders untouched by sickness are forced to leave for a neighboring island, where the children are placed in an orphanage. Banished across the sea, Ami is desperate to return to Culion before her mother’s death. She finds a strange and fragile hope in a colony of butterflies. Can they lead her home before it’s too late? Heartrending yet hopeful, celebrated newcomer Kiran Hargrave’s novel is a story about loss, perseverance, and faith.
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“Hargrave researched the history of the real island of Culion, and in it she captures the raw feelings of stigma, exile, and loss that came with Hansen’s disease at that time. A heartbreaking and heartwarming must-read.”
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Kirkus Reviews (starred review)