A beautiful, extraordinary first novel for children from a unique storyteller. Growing up on a Highland farm in a totally white community, 11-year-old 'Maybe' MacPherson hates her mixed-race roots: she is half Celtic and half Nigerian Ibo. But everything changes when her beloved father is killed in a car accident. Faced with running the farm herself and coping with her grief-stricken mother, Maybe needs all her strength to fight the local bullies - and the farm's unscrupulous owners, who want to sell the farm to a supermarket chain. Suddenly, at harvest time, Strawgirl enters Maybe's life - an extraordinary, magical girl made from straw who will help Maybe not only to discover who she really is, but also the courage that lies within her.

Author Biography

Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh and grew up in Glasgow, but now lives in Manchester with her son. She is an award-winning poet for both adults and children, having won the Signal Award for THE FROG WHO DREAMED SHE WAS AN OPERA SINGER (Bloomsbury Children's), the Saltire and Forward Prizes for THE ADOPTION PAPERS, and the Somerset Maugham Award for OTHER LOVERS (Bloodaxe). TRUMPET, her first novel for Picador, won the Guardian award and was shortlisted for the Impact Award. Adele Geras, the award-winning author of TROY, has described STRAWGIRL as 'A moving story of magic and self-discovery, written with a wit and poet's grace.'