Bairdston by Robert Cook

I requested to read this book through Netgalley as I thought the cover looked interesting and I love to read young adult novels from time to time.

Karim and Salima Kufdani have survived the streets of Tangier on their own. Orphaned and alone they’ve found their own way, until a fateful night and a cafe brawl see them shipped away from everything they’ve ever known. Now in the cold, barren expanse of Scotland, Karim and Salima must learn to navigate the waters of the exclusive Bairdston School and cross a cultural divide neither ever expected to face.

Can Karim overcome the vendetta of a coach who doesn’t want him on the team? Will anyone ever accept uneducated Salima for the prodigy she really is?

A story of love, acceptance and perseverance, Bairdston asks if the principles of peace and the virtues of intelligence can ever truly light the darkest of all places.

Award-winning novelist, Robert Cook paints an irresistible portrait of teen life in a Muslim meets Western world. Bairdston is a triumphant tale that will capture readers and leave them breathless with every exhilarating page. 

I’m not sure where to start with this book. It is rather strange!

Two Muslim teens, brother and sister Karim and Salima Kufdani are saved from the rough and dangerous streets of Morocco by Cooch and his team. They want to educate the siblings in subjects such as Martial Arts and Maths. After they have learned the basics they are shipped off to a boarding school in Scotland called Bairdston, where Cooch wants them to learn to live in a Westernised world. Learn to live, eat and play with others.

I think the book lacked a plot and all the way through I wasn’t quite sure where it was leading. I would have loved to have heard more about the siblings background, but this seemed to have been missed out.

I did however like the way the story was told from each of the brother’s and sister’s eyes and how they saw the Western world and people around them.