John Heffernan

Set in Afghanistan and part of the Through my eyes series. Naveed is about 14 and has had to leave school after his father has been killed in the conflict. He does odd jobs, runs messages for people and helps out at the market but it is barely enough to get by. He also goes out onto the dangerous mine fields collecting spent shells and scrap metal risking his life for a meagre amount of money...and all the more intense when you consider his younger sister has had both legs amputated as a result of a bomb blast.
There is talk of the US and Australian forces leaving Afghanistan and Naveed is worried that if this happens the war lord/drug lords will take over as there is nothing to stop them. One day he is protected by , and then followed home by a dog he calls Naseera. When an Australian soldier Jake sees them together, he realises that the dog will make an excellent mine detection dog and so Jake starts training Naseera and Naveed to take over from him when he is called back to Australia.
Then something terrible happens and the area is plunged into rioting with Naveed not knowing which side he is on.… (altro)

The book opens with the 2011 earthquake and following tsunami. Most of it deals with the immediate aftermath and the rebuilding taking place in 2014, in particular the seawall. Hotaka is active in coordinating the Memorial Concert but still deals with the grief of losing his best friend in the tsunami. His closest friends now are Osamu and Sakura, both orphaned by the disaster or its aftereffects. Sakura's protest of the building of the seawall goes viral and the three are caught up in potential danger because of her actions. The dialogue and prose veer to melodramatic at times. An author's note describes the inspiration for the book.… (altro)