Wasim's Challenge

By Chris Ashley Illustrated by Kate Pankhurst


Wasim's Challenge
Online price: £5.99
Paperback, 80 pages
Published: 22nd July 2010

Category: Fiction 7+
Interest age, years: From 8 To 11
Key Stage: ENG RDG KS 2&3

It is the school journey. Year Five are off to Snowdonia on a Challenge by Choice (CBC) week. Wasim Ahmed is going. He has his brand new kit and has been looking forward to it for months. Wasim's initial enjoyment is as usual marred by his ability to annoy people without meaning to but on this occasion there is a bigger factor that he hasn't fully thought through. In a “coming of age” bid sparked by a comment from another child at his mosque, Wasim has vowed to partake in the Ramadan fast leading up to the Eid festival. But he has also decided to keep his dawn to dusk fast secret. Inevitably lack of food and drink causes his behaviour to deteriorate and he has to sit out the first day's activities. During the day a box of Mars bars disappears and Wasim beomes prime suspect. Then the next day a walk turns into near disaster as the group gets lost. Fainting with hunger, Wasim finds himself in serious danger on the mountainside. This gripping story is a first-class adventure which shows the challenges faced by a Muslim child in multicultural Britain.

Chris Ashley does a brilliant job of integrating Wasim's determination to fast into an exciting drama. Ashley is particularly good on the anxieties of school life - not surprising really as he is a headteacher. - Nursery Education

Ashley has a lively style with short sharp sentences and a contemporary vocabulary. A headmaster as well as a writer, he has a keen ear for the language of primary school children, and insight into their behaviour and motivation. It is particularly refreshing to have titles in which the multicultural nature of city schools is represented – and by the main protagonist. It is also refreshing to have a situation involving Ramadan and its demands as a central theme. There must be many young readers for whom this is a very real scenario. Both of these titles are well worth recommending especially to boys, KS2 and even a little older. Full of everyday action and humour, they move along smartly, never condescending or talking down. Let us hope there will be more Wasim titles. - Books for Keeps



Publication Details:

Binding: Paperback, 80 pages
ISBN: 9781847800565
Format: 198mm x 129mm

BIC Code: YFS
BISAC Code:  JUV035000
Imprint: Frances Lincoln Children's Books


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