Shortlisted for the 2011 NZ Post Children's Book Awards, Young Adult Fiction category. Convincing post-apocalyptic drama. A sequel to the award-winning novel The Sea-wreck Stranger.
'No matter how much you might want to leave a place, if it's where you were raised it holds a piece of you it doesn't easily give up.'
In the two years since Ness and Dev fled from the wrath of the Islanders of Dunnett, Ness has begun to come to terms with a world very different to that of her childhood. Her new home, the city of Vidya, is in ruins. The air and water are polluted, the buildings scarred by fire. Amidst the rubble of the past, the community of Vidya is bravely building a new society, and Ness yearns to find a place where she might belong.
Sent to work on the home farms, she is caught up in surprise attack - not all the mainland's survivors are as tolerant and forward-looking as those in Vidya. Working tirelessly in the medic room at Ebony Hill, Ness begins to grapple with the ethics of violence, of war, of survival. The experience challenges her commitment to this brave new society. Can she find a place for herself here?
This stunning sequel to The Sea-wreck Stranger, is a gripping and suspenseful novel, packed with a standout cast of characters, that explores not only the harshness of war but the resilience of the human spirit.

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### Review

**Ebony Hill** is a dramatic, unpredictable read that should appeal to readers beyondits target demographic. Anna Mackenzie has created a strong andindependent heroine in Ness, who, much like the characters in JohnMarsden's *Tomorrow, When the War Began* series, finds herself an unlikely participant in an unforeseen war... at its core this novel is a coming-of-age story of survival.

- Anna Gowan, TVNZ

### From the Back Cover

Vidya - a city in ruins - and Ebony Hill: two halves of a community trying to find a way forward from the tragedy of the past. But theirs is not the only way.
In a battle for survival, is endurance enough? Is there more than one kind of courage?
As conflict rages, Ness and her fellow islander Ronan must come to terms with themselves, with each other and with their attitudes towards violence and belonging.
Will they be strong enough to survive the decisions they must make?