A novel about a young girl losing her sight, inspired by the author's own life story. Mafalda is a nine-year-old girl who knows one thing: some time in the next six months her sight will fail completely. Can Mafalda find a way through a seemingly dark future and still go to school, play soccer and look after her beloved cat? With the help of her family, and her friends, Mafalda needs to discover the things that will be important to her when her sight has failed.

A powerful, uplifting and moving story of a teenage girl's battle against losing her sight and keeping her friendships. Mafalda is thirteen and has been blind since she was ten. Her best friend is the cheerfully rule-breaking Filippo, and she is accompanied everywhere by Ottimo Turcaret, her devoted cat. Mafalda is always looking on the bright side, thinking of things she can do both now and in the future despite her loss of sight. But other things are worrying her too: her father who has lost his job and is now in the depths of depression, refusing to leave his bed; and the horrible girl in school, Debbie, who seems very interested in Filippo . . . So now Mafalda has to start thinking what Filippo really means to her . . . Then two new adults come into her life: Elsa, a homeless young woman, and Nino, the elderly upstairs neighbour with an awful temper and a great passion for Charles Dickens. Little by little, Mafalda learns their stories, and how their lives had also been shaped by brave and difficult choices. A moving sequel to THE DISTANCE BETWEEN ME AND THE CHERRY TREE