Playing with Fire

This is the second volume of Henning Mankell's excellent Mozambique Fire novels, shortlisted for the 2005 Marsh Award for Children's Literature in Translation.

Volume one, Secrets in the Fire, ended with a tragic landmine explosion, in which Sofia lost her legs, but now she is growing up and is ready, like her beautiful older sister Rosa, to fall in love.

When the mysterious 'Moonboy' appears, he seems to be the answer to Sofia's prayers, but is he real, or just a figment of her imagination? Then Rosa falls sick, is diagnosed with HIV and turns to African magic for a cure, leaving Sofia to try and plan for both their futures.

This is another superb offering from Henning Mankell, beautifully written and highly topical.