National Network for Equitable Library Service

Thirteen-year-old Kalu and his young cousin, Aisha, are the only survivors when their African village is overrun by rebels and burnt to the ground. After making their way to the coast, Kalu gets a job aboard a smuggler’s boat heading for Ireland. When the smuggler learns that the coast guard is searching for illegal migrants, he abandons the kids on Last Chance Island off the west coast of Ireland. At the same time, fifteen-year-old Spike learns that her father has died and she is shipped off to live with a distant relative, a woman who tends the lighthouse on Last Chance Island. Angry with her new situation, Spike plans to escape to begin a new life, but in one of her forays around the island, she discovers the two Africans who by this time are starving and desperate for help. What will Spike do? Is it a last chance for both Spike and the African kids?