Onjali Rauf 4 Book Set The Boy At the Back of the Class, The Star Outside my Window & MORE

This four-book set brings together stories by Onjali Rauf, including The Boy At the Back of the Class, The Star Outside my Window, The Night Bus Hero and The Lion Above the Door. Each book is presented through the voice of a young narrator, with situations rooted in school, family life and the way children make sense of what is happening around them.

Across the collection, a new pupil arrives to fill an empty chair at the back of the classroom, a child adjusts to foster care after her mum disappears, and a pupil known for getting into trouble sets out to change how others see him. The set also follows Leo as he questions why people like his family are missing from school history books, until a class visit to a nearby cathedral draws his attention to a marble slab above the hall doors.

Included titles

• The Boy At the Back of the Class
• The Star Outside my Window
• The Night Bus Hero
• The Lion Above the Door

Key details

• Four-book set by Onjali Rauf
• Includes four individually titled books
• Features child narrators aged nine and ten in the described stories
• Settings include a classroom, foster care, a park and a cathedral visit

Synopses

The Boy At the Back of the Class

An empty chair at the back of the class is taken by a new boy called Ahmet. He is nine years old, but seems strange to the narrator: he never talks, never smiles and does not like sweets, not even lemon sherbets.

The Star Outside my Window

After her mum disappears, 10-year-old Aniyah finds herself living in foster care. With her life in disarray, she holds on to one certainty: her mum is not gone for ever, because people with the brightest hearts become stars.

The Night Bus Hero

Accused of being a menace and a bully, the narrator says he has been getting into trouble for as long as he can remember. Things worsen after he plays a prank on an old man who lives in the park, and he decides to prove that he could be a hero.

The Lion Above the Door

Leo is told by his dad that their family is special, yet he notices that no one who looks like them appears in school history books. On a class trip to a nearby cathedral, he becomes focused on a large marble slab set high above the doors of the hall.