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“An inferior people, that’s what the Director called us at the beginning of his reign, but still useful.”

There are two peoples living in the city of Ursa: the Cerels and the Travesters. Travesters move freely and enjoy a fine quality of life. Cerel men are kept in wild camps and the women are no longer allowed to have children. The Director presides over all with an iron fist.

Fifteen-year-old Leho can’t remember a time when Cerels lived without fear in Ursa. His parents once tried to organise an uprising – his mother was blinded, and his father was taken away. But now his world is changing. Revolution is coming. People will die. Will Leho be able to save his family?

Praise

“A chilling exploration of totalitarianism, Ursa is also a salient warning about the consequences of segregating and demonising a whole section of society. Thought-provoking and disturbing, it challenges each of us to stand up for the protection of universal human rights.”
MANDY HAGER, author of the award-winning Singing Home the Whale and Dear Vincent

“Tina Shaw has captured a teen’s desperation as he walks a sharp wire between taking action or protecting his family caught in a city undergoing ethnic cleansing. Leho’s trepidation, his love and his yearning are so intense you’ll be hooked. The strange setting contains references to our past and our future with the movement of people due to climate problems, the methods of dehumanisation used by the dictator and the way the dominant population stays oblivious to what is right under their noses as they sail about in airships and elaborate fashions.”
CALLY BLACK, author of the award-winning In the Dark Spaces

“A masterfully crafted tale of resistance and rebellion, set against a hauntingly familiar political landscape. Tina Shaw holds you spellbound as family, friendship and first love defy an oppressive regime. Ursa takes you gently, yet irresistibly, by the heart then squeezes until you are gasping for breath.”
RACHAEL CRAW, author of the award-winning Spark series and The Rift

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1

They’re burning books again in Hubert Square. Black Marks, tossing books onto the bonfire like it’s a birthday party. Me and my friend Bit, we’re crouched watching from a shadowy corner. Bit’s at my shoulder, like he always is, not wanting to put himself forwards, though his face is shiny with excitement, his orangey eyebrows gleaming. Me, I’m shivering with cold, being so thin – like a stoat, says Nanna – though we can feel the heat on our faces from the fire even from here.

The library, with its fancy marble walkways and impressive steps, is glowing orange, like the stone itself is on fire. Even the stiff stone figures standing grim as ever along the top of the building – the city fathers and mothers – seem to flicker into life in the light of those high-reaching flames.

The books are burning so fiercely!