Invisible Girl (15 page)

Afterword by John Bird – Founder and Editor in Chief at The Big Issue

C
an we stop children from running away? Can we reduce the vulnerability of the child when they are out there on their own?
Places of safety near home, crash pads, and support need creating. Workers who can envisage what a child is going through need to prevent the poor home life leading to the streets. Charities like ‘Railway Children’ need our support and our attention. For once you get to the streets, the sharks and the piranhas are there for you to fall into the hands of.

The streets the homeless walk, I walked many decades ago. I slept down the back of cinemas and hotels, in little gardens and up alleys. There was always a threat. There was always someone to prey off boys like me, who had only just made it into their teens. But it was a rare enough thing then for a boy like me to rear up against the violence of home life and seek the streets as a better option, rather than stay in a badly behaving family.

Now, in the new century, I would dread to face street life. The threats are even greater. There are no longer the patrolling policemen who roamed in search of the rough sleeper. We now live in a more dislocated society and it is reflected in the amounts of children that reach our streets and seek solace in the most dangerous of places.

We have to tell stories and we have to read stories. We have to read books like
Invisible Girl
and be inspired to do something about children running away. We have to ensure that there is support for children who have abandoned hope and gone off to inhabit the threatening world of street life. I hope that this work will help us understand that we need to shake up a society that can produce so many runaways. That fails children who should have a safety net that works.

Once, a policeman brought a girl of sixteen to the Big Issue offices. She was desperate, having some problems with her exams and her family’s expectations. She came from what by the look of her was a good home. But even that did not stop her from feeling that she could not face home life and school life any more, or from choosing a desperate act.

The suffering of children needs not to lead to street life. But if it does, we need the supporting net to pick them up and carry them to places of safety. Away from the ever watchful eyes of those who would exploit them. Many
Big Issue
vendors began their journey to the streets by running away as a youngster. We want to play our part in helping young people think differently about what it can mean to become homeless; our schools education packs aim to do just that.

The streets are worse than anything I encountered in my childhood. And for that reason alone I want to support books like
Invisible Girl
. And support the work of people who try to provide an answer to children’s vulnerability. Please encourage others to read this book generously. Tell everyone, spread the word.

Visit
www.bigissue.org.uk
and
www.bigissue.com

The Big Issue is a registered charity by the Charity Commission in England & Wales (no. 1049077).

Turn over for more great reads by Kate Maryon

Maya wishes she could go surfing and hang out on the beach, but as an only child her parents are pretty overprotective.

Cat has the freedom to do what she likes – her mum barely looks after herself…

But now Maya’s family are adopting Cat and suddenly their lives collide. As tensions rise and secrets surface, can Maya and Cat ever be friends, let alone sisters?

“We talk about everything. Dad and me. About all the mysteries inside of us. About all our wonderings of the world. But tomorrow my dad goes to war. Then what will I do?”

Jemima’s dad is in the Army and he’s off to Afghanistan for six whole months. Her mum’s about to have another baby and Gran’s head is filled with her own wartime memories. So while Mima is sending Dad millions of guardian angels to keep him safe, who is looking out for her?

“It was just school to me. I’d been there since I was seven years old. But I’m not there any more, I’m here and I need to get on and get used to it, just like all the other changes in my life.”

Liberty is sure there’s more to life than getting good exam results and earning lots of money, but her super-rich, workaholic dad doesn’t agree.

And when Dad’s business goes bust and there’s no money left,

Liberty’s whole world is turned upside down…

“The page is staring at me waiting for words, but I don’t even know where to start. I’d quite like to begin the letter with something like,
Dear Mum, Thanks for ruining my life
, but I don’t think that’s the kind of letter that Auntie Cass has in mind.”

Tiff’s sparkling world comes crashing down when her mum commits a crime. Packed off to live with family in the dullest place on the planet – and without Mum around – everything seems to lose its shine . . .

About the Author

Kate Maryon is officially addicted to writing. She also loves meeting her readers when she goes into schools to give talks and run writing workshops and is always so touched by the many emails and letters she receives from them telling her how much they enjoy her books.

Kate lives in Somerset with her husband, Daniel, and their cheeky kittens, Misha and Loki. Sadly, her gorgeous dog, Ellie, died last year
She loves spending time with her grown-up children and all her gorgeous friends and feels so happy and blessed to be living the life she lives.

But wherever she is, whatever she’s doing, there’s always a story running through her imagination, the shadow of a character forming in her heart.

Kate loves chocolate, films, eating out, reading, writing, and lying on sunny beaches. She still dislikes peppermint and honey.

Also by Kate Maryon

Shine

Glitter

A Million Angels

A Sea of Stars

Copyright

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins
Children’s Books
in 2013

HarperCollins
Children’s Books
is a division of HarperCollins
Publishers
Ltd,

77–85 Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, London, W6 8JB.

The HarperCollins website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk

Invisible Girl

Copyright © Kate Maryon 2013

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

ISBN 978-0-00-746690-0

Ebook Edition © MAY 2013 ISBN: 9780007466917

Version 1

Kate Maryon asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.