Inspired by the true story of an African childhood lived  on the edge  of destitution, award-winning Elizabeth Laird's The Garbage King  takes readers on an unforgettable emotional journey.

When  Mamo's mother dies, he is abandoned in the shanties of Addis  Ababa. Stolen by a child-trafficker and sold to a farmer, he is cruelly treated. Escaping back  to the city, he meets another, very different runaway. Dani  is rich, educated - and fleeing his tyrannical father. Together they join a gang  of homeless street boys  who  survive only  by mutual bonds  of trust and total dependence on each other.