Collision

It’s just a normal day in Daniel’s small town until reports go out about an accident at the shipping canal.

Thirteen-year-old Daniel and his friend Noah race to the banks and see that two container ships have collided and are blocking the canal. Daniel watches as first responders pull the crew from the ships, and soon they discover more people on board: refugees trafficked in a shipping container.

While the refugees are taken to hospital, where Daniel’s mom is the head nurse, an investigation is launched, led in part by Daniel’s dad, a police detective. Daniel is visiting his mom at the hospital when he meets Bol, a refugee his age from South Sudan. When Bol is too scared to be given an IV he desperately needs, Daniel offers up his arm for an IV with saline solution, and shows Bol it won’t hurt. The two boys form a friendship playing video games together and communicating by learning new words in each other’s language. But not everyone is so welcoming. Outside the hospital, protesters gather, chanting “Go home!” Still, Daniel sees others ready and willing to help. Can the community rally and prove that love is stronger than hate?

Praise for Danson Mutinda and Eric Walters:

★ “This simple story of discovery, sport, and friendship is filled with likeable characters and innocently joyful moments...Delightful.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review for Hockey Night in Kenya