When the Ground Is Hard -- Malla Nunn, Paperback

This heartrending YA tale set in a Swaziland boarding school and featuring an unlikely friendship between girls of different castes won the LA Times Book Prize and is now available in paperback.

Adele Joubert loves being one of the popular girls at Keziah Christian Academy. She knows the upcoming semester at school is going to 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.

But as they share a copy of Jane Eyre, Lottie's gruff exterior and honesty grows on Adele, and Lottie learns to be a little sweeter. Together, they take on bullies and protect each other from the vindictive and prejudiced teachers. Then a boy goes missing on campus and Adele and Lottie must rely on each other to solve the mystery and along the way learn the true meaning of friendship.

Author: Malla Nunn
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Published: 06/01/2021
Pages: 288
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780525515593
Age Range: 12-UP

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.3
Point Value: 10
Interest Level: Middle Grade Plus
Quiz #/Name: 506679 / When the Ground Is Hard

About the Author
After her family migrated to Australia to escape apartheid, Malla Nunn graduated with a double degree in English and History and then earned a master of arts in Theater Studies from Villanova University. Faced with a life of chronic under-employment, she dabbled in acting and screenwriting. She wrote and directed three award-winning films including Servant of the Ancestors, which won best documentary awards at film festivals in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Zanzibar and was shown on national television in Australia. She has published several adult books and has received two Edgar Award nominations. She married in a traditional Swazi ceremony. Her bride price was eighteen cows. She now lives and works in Sydney, Australia.