Twenty years of change. One person who cares. A photograph of a barn owl in flight. “The wings, all spread out and that? They’re kind of like an angel’s.” He’s right. It’s Aimee’s owl, Aimee’s angel. Times have changed. Jim Stevens teaches history. Haunted by his own, he still believes everyone can learn from the past. 14-year-old Shamayal Thomas trusts no one. Not the family, not the gang. And at school, trusting people is forbidden. “If you decide you gotta pick up that phone, you tell me first so that I can disappear myself. Because I ain’t havin’ none of that. ”The best way to avoid trouble, thinks Ayisha Emmanuelle, is to avoid confrontation. As an inner-city schoolteacher, she does a whole lot of avoidance.One shocking event —a playground stabbing —leaves a life hanging in the balance. Two teachers risk their careers to help a boy who has nothing. Three worlds intersect and connect, regardless of the rules. History doesn’t always repeat itself. A powerful exploration of the ache of loss set in a landscape where broken people can heal each other. "All the heartbreak of A Kestrel for a Knave (Kes) and then some. Imagine Billy Casper living in South London in the 1990s.” “...reminds me of being inside a kaleidoscope; colourful, surreal, real, poignant and offering an ever-changing, intense view of what it means to be human.” – Amazon Reviewer.