Thirteen-year-old Lola lives in a nice house with her younger brother Amit and her father who owns a factory. One day their father heads out of town to see a supplier. When he doesn’t return the children believe he has gotten cut off by the monsoons as everywhere is flooded and that he will be back the next day.

Day after day their father doesn’t come back and their landlord now wants them out of their house. With no other relatives to help them the children head to the streets with just a backpack each and a little money.

One afternoon Lola loses Amit in a crowd and now she is all alone and in desperate need to find her brother and her father. How is Lola going to cope in this vast city where she was once one of the rich kids and now she has nothing and is fast becoming a street rat?

Lost is one of the most beautiful children’s books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Once I began I just couldn’t put it down and read late into the night to finish it.

This is the story of a young girl who had her whole life in front of her. She had a loving family, rich friends, a great education and all of it gone in a matter of days. Now she is having to think about how to survive on the streets, where she can sleep, where to get money so she can eat, as well, as trying to locate her brother and find out what happened to her father.

The book is rich in detail and whilst we are never actually told which country the book is set in, we know the continent, I believe that enough clues are leading it to be India.

This is a book about compassion, loyalty, family, love, and courage. Lola is a young girl who found herself in an extreme situation through no fault of her own. she has gone from wanting a new phone to just wanting to eat and survive. The bond between the siblings is so pure and you will find yourself silently praying that Lola is reunited with her family.

As well as Lola’s predicament we also learn more about the street kids or street rats as the locals call them. Why some of them are on the street, how they survive and what lengths they will go to so that they don’t starve. It is heartbreaking hearing some of the kid’s stories. These are children, some as young as four years old roaming and sleeping on the streets and trying to stay safe.

Ms. Fountains’ writing is so perfect that the words go right to your heart and has the words playing out like a movie scene. This is a book that every school should have and children should definitely read. It might just make them understand how hard life can be for others and give them empathy for those less fortunate than themselves.

Ele Fountain worked as an editor in children’s publishing where she was responsible for launching and nurturing the careers of many prize-winning and bestselling authors.

She lived in Addis Ababa for several years, where she was inspired to write Boy 87, her debut novel. Ele lives in what she describes as a “not quite falling down house” in Hampshire with her husband, two young daughters and lots of spiders.