Yola's leg is blown off by a landmine and her life in Africa is changed forever. She travels to Ireland for an artificial limb, and her adventures continue.
Yola's leg is blown off by a landmine and her life in Africa is changed forever. When Yola travels to Ireland to be fitted with an artificial leg and meets seventeen-year-old Fintan, she little realises that they will soon be involved in an international arms intrigue, and an adventure that will bring them both close to death.
His first book, Katie's War, is about the civil war period in Ireland; it was published in 1997. Katie's War has recently won the Peter Pan Award 2000 -- an award created by IBBY Sweden for a children's book, translated into Swedish, which gives information on another culture.
Wings Over Delft, the first book in the Louise trilogy, won the Bisto Book of the Year overall award in 2004.
'Yola's adventures in Africa and Ireland read like a thriller - there's just so much going on in this beautifully written story.'
'Aubrey Flegg, who recently won the Peter Pan Prize 2000 for his first book, Katie's War, has again come up with a very likeable heroine in The Cinnamon Tree.'
'A thought-provoking book which addresses the issue of illegal arms trading with the West, and also demonstrates how adversity can lead to empowerment.'
'This powerful story, set largely in a fictional Africal state resembling Angola, takes a strong anti-war stance. From a dramatic opening chapter in which 14-year-old Yola loses her leg in a landmine explosion, through to the tense final pages ... It tackles difficult and complex issues with unflinching rigour. Characters and readers alike are forced to examine the attitude of supposedly peaceful nations and individuals to the arms trade, ineluctably drawn to the conclusion that it is not enough for good men to do nothing.'
Aubrey runs into trouble at airports, and describes where he gets his inspiration from.
Aubrey feels very strongly about the issue of landmines in ex-warzones throughout the world, and wrote The Cinnamon Tree to help focus attention on this issue.
Download Teaching Guides: Teaching guide for The Cinnamon Tree from O'Brien Teaching Guides for Second Level Schools.
