AustLit

''Fozia noticed smoke from the chimney curling to the sky. The brick kiln was working again but she didn't want to go there. She couldn't let the kiln owner see her.'

'Twelve-year-old Fozia has survived the worst flood in Pakistan's history. But her life will never be the same. With her little sister gone and her parents missing, Fozia now lives with Jehan's family in a new village, hoping that one day she will see her family again. But after returning to her old home and coming face to face with the brick-kiln owner, Fozia realises there is much more at stake if she's made to pay back her family's debt to the owner.

'To escape her new reality, Fozia tells her friends a fairytale about Prince Zal. He rides a magic carpet on a quest to find his little sister, battling leopards and hidden serpents along the way. But can Prince Zal succeed in his quest if the truth behind Fozia's story is revealed?' (Publication summary)