Drawing a Veil

By Lari Don and Emma Chinnery

Ellie and Amina are best friends. But when Amina decides to start wearing the hijab, it attracts the attention of the bullies. Now Ellie's loyalties are being tested. Has Amina changed? Does it matter if best friends have different beliefs? Is she ready to stand up for Amina? A thought-provoking story about friendship, religion and modern life.

Highly readable, exciting books that take the struggle out of reading, Wired encourages and supports reading practice by providing gripping, age-appropriate stories for struggling and reluctant readers or those with English as an additional language aged 11+, at a manageable length (64 pages) and reading level (8+). Produced in association with reading experts at CatchUp, a charity which aims to address underachievement caused by literacy and numeracy difficulties.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Feb 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781408165744

Lari Don

Lari Don was brought up in Scotland, beside a distillery, a river and a railway line, giving her lots of opportunities for incredibly dangerous outdoor games. She was the Scottish National Party's Press Officer for many exciting and sleepless years and then a researcher and producer at BBC Radio Scotland. She won the Canongate Prize in 2001, and a Royal Mail award for her book First Aid for Fairies in 2008. She now lives in Leith, and works as a fulltime writer and storyteller.

Book preview

Drawing a Veil

Lari Don

This book is dedicated to every girl’s right

to make her own choices.

Contents

1     Staring at Amina

2     Do Best Friends Share Everything?

3     Mugshot

4     What Is Normal Anyway?

5     Musical Statues

6     Hard Questions

7     Driving Boys Wild

8     Running, Together

Chapter One

Staring at Amina

Some Year 10 boys were fighting at the end of the corridor but, for once, no-one was looking at them.

Everyone was looking at Amina.

"Why didn’t you tell me? Ellie whispered. I’m your best friend!"

Amina shook her head. I didn’t want you to talk me out of it.

Mr MacIver opened the door to the Art Room. Come in quietly, he said, but no one moved. Everyone was still looking at Amina’s scarf.

It wasn’t a striped school scarf. It wasn’t a woolly scarf like your gran might have knitted. It wasn’t a trendy glittery scarf from the shopping centre.

Amina was wearing a tight black headscarf. It was pinned around her head, covering her hair, her ears and her neck.

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