What do you think?
Rate this book
The Freedom Finders
Touch the Sun
To find freedom, you must leave behind everything you've ever known.
It is 2011. You want nothing more than to be a journalist in Somalia like your aunty. But the truth can be dangerous - and when you and your little sister are left alone, you find yourself facing life-and-death choices at every turn.
Can you escape a terrorist organisation and find a safe place to call home? You'll be asked to cross a desert on foot, hide below deck in a leaky boat, and put your life in the hands of people smugglers.
At every turn, the choice is yours. How far will you go for freedom?
It is 2011. You want nothing more than to be a journalist in Somalia like your aunty. But the truth can be dangerous - and when you and your little sister are left alone, you find yourself facing life-and-death choices at every turn.
Can you escape a terrorist organisation and find a safe place to call home? You'll be asked to cross a desert on foot, hide below deck in a leaky boat, and put your life in the hands of people smugglers.
At every turn, the choice is yours. How far will you go for freedom?
- GenresChildrens
330 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 28, 2018
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 10, 2018
Touch the Sun is the story of a thirteen-year-old boy and his younger sister, who live in Somalia. Their parents are dead, and they live in poor conditions with their aunt Rahama. Early in the story Rahama is apparently killed because she is a journalist who works to spread accurate accounts of the activities of a terrorist group called al-Shabaab. Knowing her life is in danger she passes on sensitive information to her nephew. However, this puts his life in danger and he must find a way for himself and his sister to escape. Through some helpful neighbours the boy and his sister manage to make their way to Nairobi and the United Nations Camp. But even here they are not safe. They have a contact in Australia, but how to get there? Many obstacles stand in the way, such as, a desert, people smugglers, a leaky boat, will they make it to Australia?
The boy’s name isn’t revealed because the story is written in the second person as a “choose-your-own-adventure.” The reader must make choices so writing in the second person makes the choices more realistic, but it also makes it rather clumsy.
While this is a fictional story, it uses many real-life situations. The best choice in many of the scenarios is not obvious, and the wrong choice may lead to abandonment or death, often in violent ways. For this reason I don’t think the book is suitable for primary school children and could even be disturbing for young teenagers. Unfortunately though the story relates what is reality for many children living in Somalia.
The story moves at a good pace, though is quite long-winded but perhaps this is because, as a reviewer, I read all the alternatives. It would be a little easier and quicker for a young reader. However, it would not be possible to get through the book without encountering some disturbing violence.
Following the story Emily Conolan has included additional information about Somalia, refugees, asylum seekers and people smugglers.
Thanks to Christian School Supplier for providing a free book for review.
The boy’s name isn’t revealed because the story is written in the second person as a “choose-your-own-adventure.” The reader must make choices so writing in the second person makes the choices more realistic, but it also makes it rather clumsy.
While this is a fictional story, it uses many real-life situations. The best choice in many of the scenarios is not obvious, and the wrong choice may lead to abandonment or death, often in violent ways. For this reason I don’t think the book is suitable for primary school children and could even be disturbing for young teenagers. Unfortunately though the story relates what is reality for many children living in Somalia.
The story moves at a good pace, though is quite long-winded but perhaps this is because, as a reviewer, I read all the alternatives. It would be a little easier and quicker for a young reader. However, it would not be possible to get through the book without encountering some disturbing violence.
Following the story Emily Conolan has included additional information about Somalia, refugees, asylum seekers and people smugglers.
Thanks to Christian School Supplier for providing a free book for review.
October 6, 2025
Representation: Black character
Trigger warnings: Death in the ocean, death of a child, fire, explosions, gun violence, refugee experiences, death of parents, car crash, physical injury
Score: Six out of ten.
I did not enjoy this book at all, except for one of the happy endings, where the main character (I'll name him Abdul) became a writer, and it also showed how this book was related to Break Your Chains, made by the same author. Maybe I'll give this author one last chance with the only novel I haven't read in the series yet called Move the Mountains. However, that was the only positive thing about this book. Almost all of the endings of this book either were bad or led to Abdul dying in horrific ways (heatstroke, shot by a bullet, dying in the ocean, blown up, burnt alive), and I didn't like him at times, and especially, when he edited some paper to include a swear word. I couldn't connect to any of the characters within this book, but at least I could understand their struggles for freedom, and this book wasn't as action-packed as I had hoped. Read Refugee for a better novel about immigration. Also, the fact that a white author wrote a book with a Black character rubs me the wrong way. I get that this raises awareness of refugees, but as with another book called Zenobia, it would've been better if a refugee wrote an account of their experience. That doesn't take away from the fact that this is well-researched.
Update: I read Move the Mountains. It was okay.
Trigger warnings: Death in the ocean, death of a child, fire, explosions, gun violence, refugee experiences, death of parents, car crash, physical injury
Score: Six out of ten.
I did not enjoy this book at all, except for one of the happy endings, where the main character (I'll name him Abdul) became a writer, and it also showed how this book was related to Break Your Chains, made by the same author. Maybe I'll give this author one last chance with the only novel I haven't read in the series yet called Move the Mountains. However, that was the only positive thing about this book. Almost all of the endings of this book either were bad or led to Abdul dying in horrific ways (heatstroke, shot by a bullet, dying in the ocean, blown up, burnt alive), and I didn't like him at times, and especially, when he edited some paper to include a swear word. I couldn't connect to any of the characters within this book, but at least I could understand their struggles for freedom, and this book wasn't as action-packed as I had hoped. Read Refugee for a better novel about immigration. Also, the fact that a white author wrote a book with a Black character rubs me the wrong way. I get that this raises awareness of refugees, but as with another book called Zenobia, it would've been better if a refugee wrote an account of their experience. That doesn't take away from the fact that this is well-researched.
Update: I read Move the Mountains. It was okay.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2018
I love choose your own adventure stories but this is a series with a difference. The choices you as the reader make can have life altering consequences. This is an innovative and interesting text by a teacher known for her humanitarian work. You as the reader control whether you live or die, only in this story you can always go back and make a different choice. Written in second person this is a narrative style that many readers will not have experienced before.
This is a brilliant way to show children what life can be like for refugees and people who live in war ravaged areas of the world. Set in Somalia and Kenya this story follows the lives of two young orphans who are in grave danger in their hometown so endeavour to make their way to Australia. Along the way the choices they make will dictate their survival. At various times in the text there are also links to information pages about topics such as religious extremism, illegal immigration, asylum seekers and people smugglers.
Suitable for 9+ immigration, religious extremism, violence, war, asylum, aid, family, freedom, courage
Teacher notes:
https://www.allenandunwin.com/documen...
This is a brilliant way to show children what life can be like for refugees and people who live in war ravaged areas of the world. Set in Somalia and Kenya this story follows the lives of two young orphans who are in grave danger in their hometown so endeavour to make their way to Australia. Along the way the choices they make will dictate their survival. At various times in the text there are also links to information pages about topics such as religious extremism, illegal immigration, asylum seekers and people smugglers.
Suitable for 9+ immigration, religious extremism, violence, war, asylum, aid, family, freedom, courage
Teacher notes:
https://www.allenandunwin.com/documen...
April 2, 2018
A throw back to 80s teen Choose-Your-Own-Adventure format for the next generation....as a powerful way of laying out the difficult pathways people seeking asylum face.
Each choice was tough, and had me second guessing the best way to go. And unlike real life for kids like these, I could flip back to a decision that landed my fate at the worst.
I love that Hani's poem and parts of her story have been used in the book - such a voice for the refugee youth here in Australia now.
Each choice was tough, and had me second guessing the best way to go. And unlike real life for kids like these, I could flip back to a decision that landed my fate at the worst.
I love that Hani's poem and parts of her story have been used in the book - such a voice for the refugee youth here in Australia now.
March 11, 2020
I really enjoyed this Choose Your Own path story. I gave it to my nephew who is 11. He was starting to give up on the reading because he says everything for his age is fantasy genre and he HATES FANTASY. He loved the realism in this book mixed with the choose-your-path format.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews