No Turning Back — Beverley Naidoo

Escaping from his violent stepfather, twelve-year-old Sipho heads for Johannesburg, where he has heard that gangs of children live on the streets. Surviving hunger and bitter-cold winter nights is hard'but learning when to trust in the ‘new' South Africa proves even more difficult.

No Turning Back appeared on the short list of both the Guardian and Smarties book prizes on the United Kingdom.