Thornlea is a normal English town, where retail parks are valued more than ancient woodland, politicians generate hot gusts as efficiently as air-source heat pumps, and scant consideration is given to the needs of local wildlife. Mina Thakli, in contrast, is not a typical fifteen-year-old girl. The daughter of second-generation immigrants hailing from the great river delta of the Ganges, Mina has a growing concern for the wild residents of her town. After drinking some mulled cider made from local apples during a wassailing event, Mina's sense of duty to the non-human world around her really begins to intensify, and she soon finds herself committing to a clandestine nocturnal project to fight back against the anti-wildlife trends of modern human society. Meanwhile, as she is busy falling in love with nature's vulnerable beauty, an enigmatic new student at Mina's school is also taking hold of her heart. With tough life lessons to be learned along the way, will Mina's indefatigable spirit see her ultimately triumph? At once satirical, cheeky, playful, and adventurous, this is a story about the possibility of individual action and the joy of learning about the true place of humans in nature, as just another species.
