Based on interviews with young women who were kidnapped by Boko Haram, this poignant novel by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani tells the timely story of one girl who was taken from her home in Nigeria and her harrowing fight for survival. Includes an afterword by award-winning journalist Viviana Mazza.

A new pair of shoes, a university degree, a husband—these are the things that a girl dreams of in a Nigerian village. And with a government scholarship right around the corner, everyone can see that these dreams aren’t too far out of reach.

But the girl’s dreams turn to nightmares when her village is attacked by Boko Haram, a terrorist group, in the middle of the night. Kidnapped, she is taken with other girls and women into the forest where she is forced to follow her captors’ radical beliefs and watch as her best friend slowly accepts everything she’s been told.

Still, the girl defends her existence. As impossible as escape may seem, her life—her future—is hers to fight for.

• Harrowing Survival Story: Kidnapped from her home in the middle of the night, a young girl must endure the unimaginable to stay alive in the infamous Sambisa forest.
• The Power of Education: A gripping look at a young woman whose dreams of a university scholarship become her driving force to survive and defy a terrorist group that believes girls should not be educated.
• YA Social Justice Fiction: Perfect for readers of The Hate U Give and I Am Malala, this timely and important novel shines a light on the real-life plight of the Nigerian girls abducted by Boko Haram.
• Fight for Freedom: More than just the story of a victim, this is a tale of a hero who, despite losing everything, refuses to surrender her future or her identity.