Becoming Dinah

by Kit de Waal

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Book cover for Becoming Dinah

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"A gripping, heart-wrenching coming-of-age story" - Guardian

In her first YA novel, Costa-shortlisted Kit de Waal responds to classic Moby Dick by tearing the power away from obsessive Captain Ahab and giving it to a teenage girl.

Dinah's whole world is upside down, dead things and angry men and cuts all over her head that are beginning to sting....

Seventeen-year-old Dinah needs to leave her home, the weird commune where she grew up. She needs a whole new identity, starting with how she looks, starting with shaving off her hair, her 'crowning glory'. She has to do it quickly, because she has to go now.

Dinah was going to go alone and hitch a ride down south. Except, she ends up being persuaded to illegally drive a VW campervan for hundreds of miles, accompanied by a grumpy man with one leg. This wasn't the plan.

But while she's driving, Dinah will be forced to confront everything that led her here, everything that will finally show her which direction to turn...

In her first YA novel, Costa-shortlisted author Kit de Waal responds to the classic Moby Dick with entirely new characters, a VW campervan, and by tearing the power away from obsessive Captain Ahab and giving it to a teenage girl who's determined to find a new life, far away from her unconventional upbringing.

"An emotionally charged book" - Daily Mail

"Fresh and defiantly original ... what a beautiful book" - Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

"An emotional coming of age tale of escape, mission, and ultimately, self-knowledge" - The Big Issue

  • ISBN10 1510105700
  • ISBN13 9781510105706
  • Publish Date 11 July 2019
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country GB
  • Publisher Hachette Children's Group
  • Imprint Orion Children's Books
  • Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
  • Pages 240
  • Language English