Chris Ashley 
Wasim’s Challenge 

It is the school journey. Year Five are off to Snowdonia on a Challenge by Choice (CBC) week. Wasim Ahmed is going. He has his brand new kit and has been looking forward to it for months. Wasim’s initial enjoyment is as usual marred by his ability to annoy people without meaning to but on this occasion there is a bigger factor that he hasn’t fully thought through. In a “coming of age” bid sparked by a comment from another child at his mosque, Wasim has vowed to partake in the Ramadan fast leading up to the Eid festival. But he has also decided to keep his dawn to dusk fast secret. Inevitably lack of food and drink causes his behaviour to deteriorate and he has to sit out the first day’s activities. During the day a box of Mars bars disappears and Wasim beomes prime suspect. Then the next day a walk turns into near disaster as the group gets lost. Fainting with hunger, Wasim finds himself in serious danger on the mountainside. This gripping story is a first-class adventure which shows the challenges faced by a Muslim child in multicultural Britain.

Circa l’autore

Kate Pankhurst graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a degree in illustration. She was the highest placed graduate in a national student competition, The Macmillan Prize for Children’s Book Illustration in 2002. Since then she has illustrated several books including Captain Pike Looks After the Baby by Marjorie Newman and Who’s a Cheeky Baby? by Ian Whybrow. She has also illustrated Wasim One Star and Wasim the Wanderer for Frances Lincoln Publishers. Having completed her Masters in Children’s Book illustration, Kate also lectures part-time at UCLan. She currently lives in Leeds.