Suleikha, Leo and Kai, a group of 12-year-olds known as the Freezies, befriend the intriguing and larger-than-life Mr Christaki, a traveller who camps with his converted school bus on their village green. When revealed as a refugee from Syria, he disappears with his four-year-old adopted daughter. The Freezies come up with a risky and audacious scheme to expose his desperate plight on national TV in an attempt to prevent his deportation.
Closely following the lives of three young people in today’s Britain, The Freezies is a call for compassion and understanding for those fleeing war and oppression in our troubled times.
"A unique perspective on important topics such as: refugees, immigration, asylum, prejudice, stereotyping, community, drug use, friendship, loneliness, unemployment, poverty, unions, social justice, and compassion. Highly Recommended."
"Dhondy’s writing is fluent and vivid, and the children’s attempts to save their new friend from deportation show courage and tenaciousness . . . (and) there is still plenty here to amuse readers of eleven and up."