Butterflies

Coping with severe burns, the hospital and doctors is not easy when all you want to do is be a teenage girl.

Katherine was severely burnt in an accident when she was two years old. Now 17, she lives with her mother and 22 year-old sister. their father left the family when they were very young. Katherine still needs regular skin grafts.

This is a moving and well-written tale of emotional and physical damage and Katherine's need to overcome her fears. It is a positive story of individual strength and family love. Whether a person is physically damaged or 'perfectly normal', life still has to be lived and the story of Katherine and her friends relates to all teenagers.

Endorsed by Dr Hugh Martin, President of the ANZ Burn Association and Head of Burn Unit, the Children's Hospital, Westmead. * Highly Commended for the Older Readers in the Australian Family therapists' Award for Children's Literature 2002

Ages 12+