So Strange, so Beautiful
Children & Young Adult, Young Adult, YA Age 14+, YA Love / Romance, YA Social Issues
Can love really conquer all?
As Joyce gets to know Elias, a young refugee from Ethiopia, the unexpected happens: fascinated by his ethereal beauty and enigmatic nature, she falls head over heels in love with him. But despite all the wonderful moments they share, the relationship is fraught with difficulty. Time and again, Joyce is bewildered by Elias's abrupt transitions between exuberance and deep depression. Often she has no idea how all the misunderstandings between them come about. Is it because he’s from a different culture? Is it because he’s a refugee? Should they even be together at all?
Then Elias learns that he’s facing deportation and disappears overnight. In desperation, Joyce goes all out to find him …
• A love story that conveys a crucial contemporary social issue to young readers
• told from the perspective of a seventeen-year-old for whom love arrives hand-in-hand with unprecedented trouble
• Cornelia Franz has worked with refugees for many years and knows Ethiopia, Elias's home, inside-out
Cornelia Franz studied German and American Studies and trained as a bookseller. She has published travel guides, short stories, an adult novel and books for children and adolescents.
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Can love really conquer all?
As Joyce gets to know Elias, a young refugee from Ethiopia, the unexpected happens: fascinated by his ethereal beauty and enigmatic nature, she falls head over heels in love with him. But despite all the wonderful moments they share, the relationship is fraught with difficulty. Time and again, Joyce is bewildered by Elias's abrupt transitions between exuberance and deep depression. Often she has no idea how all the misunderstandings between them come about. Is it because he’s from a different culture? Is it because he’s a refugee? Should they even be together at all?
Then Elias learns that he’s facing deportation and disappears overnight. In desperation, Joyce goes all out to find him …
• A love story that conveys a crucial contemporary social issue to young readers
• told from the perspective of a seventeen-year-old for whom love arrives hand-in-hand with unprecedented trouble
• Cornelia Franz has worked with refugees for many years and knows Ethiopia, Elias's home, inside-out