Longlisted for the Jhalak Children's & Young Adult Prize 2024
'A vivid and tender portrait' Suzi Feay, Financial Times
'Beautiful and immersive. I was completely absorbed' Andreina Cordani
'Exceptional . . . A story of empowerment, bravery and courage' J P Rose
'Tender, melancholic, and effortless, Diana Anyakwo writes with a deceptively simple yet steady voice which immediately draws readers into Lily's rose-colored world . . . A gorgeous tale that leaves you wanting to hug the protagonist and assure her of a lifetime of tender moments' Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström, international bestselling author of IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK
Lily is a sixteen-year-old living in Manchester. It is nearly five years since her father's death, and she is soon to return to her birthplace in Nigeria to reunite with her mother and siblings for the anniversary. As cold rain thunders on the streets of Moss Side she looks back over her young life and wonders . . . how did she get here?
As a young girl in Lagos, Lily is the baby of her large family. The daughter of a Nigerian father and Irish mother, she lives in a dual reality: one where moments of bright colour and tenderness exist alongside a sense of danger just beneath the surface of her apparently idyllic life. This is a tension that nobody dares speak out loud and it teaches Lily an early lesson: always blend in, always play the right part.
But the truth cannot stay hidden forever. Things in Lagos itself, and within her family, soon reach breaking point. As her city and her family implode into chaos around her, and at school her skin colour marks her out from the crowd, Lily struggles to know how to blend in. And when her mother sends her away to school in England, Lily's sense of identity is challenged in even more painful ways.
My Life as a Chameleon is a powerful story of resilience and belonging, about family secrets and how they can destroy even the deepest bonds. It is a story about finding your place in the world and realising you deserve to be there.
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
ISBN: 9781472156150
Number of pages: 304
Weight: 240 g
Dimensions: 196 x 126 x 24 mm
Brutally authentic, tenderly honest, Diana Anyakwo lays bare the struggle of belonging and unbelonging. My Life As a Chameleon is YA at its finest - Nikki May, author of WAHALA
Tender, melancholic, and effortless, Diana Anyakwo writes with a deceptively simple yet steady voice which immediately draws readers into Lily's rose-colored world. We navigate alongside her through the shattering of those innocent lenses as she discovers with each experience the complexities of life in this beautiful coming-of-age story. A gorgeous tale that leaves you wanting to hug the protagonist and assure her of a lifetime of tender moments - Lolá Ákínmádé Åkerström, international bestselling author of IN EVERY MIRROR SHE'S BLACK
Diana Anyakwo's beautiful writing captures those granular everyday details of growing up, of navigating friendships, learning to feel comfortable in your skin and finding your own voice. My Life As A Chameleon is immersive - I was completely absorbed from the moment I opened the book - Andreina Cordani
This is a powerful, introspective and engaging book that will pull on your heart strings. It's for anyone who's felt lonely, misunderstood or out of place - Afua Hagan, The British Blacklist
My Life As A Chameleon is a beautifully written book, an exceptional debut which captures the reader from the beginning and doesn't let go until the very end. It's a journey of both hope and despair, a story of empowerment, of self discovery, bravery and courage in the face of family trauma and emotional turmoil. Diana Anyakwo writes so exquisitely and the narrative voice is so accomplished, it's hard to believe that this emotionally charged book is a debut. Diana is certainly an exciting and welcome new voice in the YA world - J P Rose, author of The Haunting of Tyrese Walker
What a lovely view of life Diana Anyakwo created through Lily's innocence as she tries fathoming out the adult world and how she fits into it . . . I'm bereft that it's over - Eva Verde, author of Lives Like Mine
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