Ages 8 to14 years
Jorge lives in a shanty town on the outskirts
of Paris. Bill, a controller, has an army of child
thieves at his command—and Jorge is one
of them.
But soon Jorge faces an even bigger threat.
His home is to be bulldozed. Where will Jorge
sleep? What will happen to his friends, Ada and Gino? Could a burgeoning friendship with
Australian chef, Sticky-Ricky, help Jorge to stop Bill
and save the army of child-thieves? And will he do
it before he loses Ada forever?
Jorge can’t keep fighting to live—now he must
live to fight.
A harrowing, humbling story about one boy’s
desperation to escape a life of crippling poverty.
‘A Cardboard Palace reads like a modern Dickens story set in Paris, giving a voice to trafficked Romany children who are forced to labour illegally for a pittance. […] Jorge has been trained to steal wallets but ultimately he will steal your heart.’ - Rosanne Hawke, author of Marrying Ameera
‘A Cardboard Palace gives voice to displaced children.’ - Susanne Gervay, author of the I Am Jack series
