01Katie and Sophia
Hurray, Last Day of School!
A summer homework project sends two ordinary friends towards two very different holidays.
The moment to notice +
The throwaway assignment that quietly sets the whole mission in motion.
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More website languages →Translation and accuracy standard →Inside the novel
Follow Katie and Sophia through two summer holidays that begin with jokes, family and adventure—and become a mission to protect girls from FGM/C.

A spoiler-light guide
Open any chapter to discover what changes, why it matters and the moment worth watching. The guide reveals the shape of the novel without replacing the experience of reading it.
01Katie and Sophia
A summer homework project sends two ordinary friends towards two very different holidays.
The throwaway assignment that quietly sets the whole mission in motion.
02Katie
Glitter, family chatter and the familiar chaos of home establish the life Katie is about to leave behind.
The comedy of an ordinary family before anything feels dangerous.
03Sophia
Sophia’s lively home life reveals the humour and relationships that hold the parallel story together.
Aneeta’s gift for making safeguarding fiction feel like real family life.
04Katie
Excitement builds as Katie prepares for the long-awaited journey to meet her extended family.
Small packing decisions carry the first hint that the holiday may change everything.
05Katie
The camera for Katie’s school presentation becomes part of the family’s preparations.
An everyday object that later helps Katie notice, record and understand.
06Sophia
Sophia begins her staycation with NDA, snacks, complaints and the promise of an adventure closer to home.
Warm, comic dialogue that lets young readers settle into the story.
07Katie
Katie’s family leaves Britain full of anticipation, unaware of the questions waiting for them.
The emotional threshold between a family holiday and an unknown risk.
08Sophia
Sophia and Charlie form a mischievous partnership amid sand, family meals and caravan-site life.
A friendship begins through jokes, friction and instant recognition.
09Katie
Katie meets Uncle Kai, Ivy and the formidable Granny Jojo as generations reunite.
A tender homecoming that refuses to reduce a loving family to a single issue.
10Sophia
Sophia’s seaside story gathers pace when Mr Payne becomes part of the children’s holiday chaos.
Broad comedy that gives the darker parallel narrative room to breathe.
11Katie
Food, games and new cousins draw Katie into village life while unfamiliar traditions surface around her.
A vivid sense of place built through taste, movement and children’s curiosity.
12Sophia
A day on the beach turns into one of Sophia and Charlie’s most memorable schemes.
The scene young readers are likely to retell because it is shamelessly funny.
13Katie
Katie watches her mother challenge a practice she does not accept, even when others call it tradition.
The first clear demonstration that respect never requires silence about harm.
14Sophia
Lights, rides and a disastrous turn create comic mayhem at the seaside.
Fast visual comedy with consequences worthy of the chapter’s title.
15Katie
Fear becomes more immediate as Katie and Sweetpea try to make sense of what adults will not explain.
Children trust one another before the adults around them understand the danger.
16Katie
A family gathering carries laughter on the surface while Katie searches for the truth beneath it.
The tension between celebration, secrecy and a child’s instinct that something is wrong.
17Sophia
Sophia and Charlie turn boredom into music and discover that creativity can carry a serious message.
The moment entertainment becomes a form of campaigning.
18Katie
The promised adventure arrives, but Katie’s growing unease changes what she notices around her.
Wonder and tension occupy the same page without cancelling each other out.
19Sophia
News from the talent contest raises the stakes and brings Sophia’s holiday into Freedom Charity’s world.
A child’s idea begins to attract an audience far beyond the caravan.
20Katie
Katie listens as adults finally name FGM/C and confront a family history shaped by silence.
The pivotal conversation that turns suspicion into knowledge.
21Sophia
Sophia and Charlie take their message onto a larger stage at Freedom Charity’s gala.
Joy, performance and public purpose meet in one celebratory scene.
22Katie
Preparations for a ‘special party’ sharpen the danger and force the family to decide what protection means.
Ordinary details become warning signs once Katie understands the risk.
23Sophia
Recognition gives the young campaigners a platform and shows that boys belong in the movement to end FGM/C.
The book widens responsibility beyond girls and women.
24Katie
Long-held secrets, urgent choices and the threat to Sweetpea converge in the story’s most intense chapter.
Courage becomes action when there is no time left for polite avoidance.
25Katie
Katie returns changed by what she has learned and by the knowledge that one rescue cannot end the practice.
Home feels different when a child carries a truth others need to hear.
26Katie and Sophia
The friends transform their school presentation into an assembly, a campaign and a practical route to help.
The final question is not simply what happened, but what every reader can do next.
Stories that open conversations

The first novel introduces Vinny and Sofia and helps readers recognise pressure, secrecy and forced marriage.
Explore the first book →
The second novel continues Sophia’s story and gives young people a way to understand risk, friendship and safe action.
Buy the second book →

Launched into public life
Cut Flowers and its lesson resources were launched in June 2016 through events at the House of Commons and Reed Smith. The parliamentary launch was hosted by the then Education Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities, Nicky Morgan. Miriam Margolyes, who wrote the book’s foreword, joined the Reed Smith launch.
Those launches mattered because the book was never intended to sit quietly on a shelf. It was created to enter schools, open difficult conversations and show young people where safe help begins.
Read about Miriam Margolyes’ foreword →
Turn reading into visible action
Freedom Charity has Red Triangle Badges ready to reach schools, workplaces, public bodies and communities. The badge turns a private conviction into a visible public statement.
A book with a life beyond its author