Shafinaaz Hassim

Nisa Qamar and the Circle of the Astrolabe Shafinaaz Hassim

What happens when you have a class project due, and you have teamed up with two completely different personalities? Nisa's group consists of the bubbly, effervescent Hasna and Amir, the strange new boy who doesn't say much. When they meet up to plan their presentation, their world is turned upside down, all because of a broken watch and a chance encounter with the Timekeeper's Manifesto. It holds a cryptic message, that you must search your past to find your purpose. When a strange green gas seeps through the streets, the President announces a shutdown of Johannesburg City. Curfews are announced to keep people indoors, gumboots, gas masks and oxygen tanks are the new fashion statement, and schools are closed. As the green gas grows and thickens around them, it overwhelms the city skies and soon sunlight struggles to get in. A gloomy green darkness descends on Jozi. The city seems frozen in time. According to the Circle of the Astrolabe, they don't have much time to reverse this mess before the green gunk takes permanent hold of the city. How much longer can they endure and who can stop this great green menace so that life can return to normal again? Nisa Qamar and the Circle of the Astrolabe is the fourth book in the Nisa Qamar series by WordFlute Press. Previous titles have been commended twice in the MAHLA awards and in the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature 2019. Shafinaaz Hassim is an award-winning writer based in South Africa. She lives in her world of words and stories, shaping new forms of delight for readers of all ages. Read more at faceook.com/NisaQamarBooks