How far would you have walked to gain your high school education? From an early age, the greatest passion in Boitumelo Tumelo's life is learning. Boi, as she is known to her friends and family, just loves going to school. Her primary school is in the local village, but when she graduates to secondary school, two obstacles stand in the path to her further education. Firstly, there are fees to be paid. Secondly, it is eleven miles to the nearest secondary school. She would have to get up very early, and walk that long distance to school every day, and walk home after school. There are many...

The adventures and misadventures of a teenage boy, Calum McDougal, as he grows up in Hong Kong in the early nineteen-seventies. There is plenty of mischief, but at the heart of his story is a remarkable little orphan girl whom he first meets at the Day Centre that his mother has recently founded. The little girl's disability leads to her peculiar nickname, Knitting, and influences Calum's life journey. The humorous and sometimes roguish background stories, and how Knitting and Calum achieve the seemingly impossible, are what make this book so readable.