★5,000+ copies sold.
★Winner of the "Become the Writers" contest and awarded the Golden Luigi!
★No.1 in Children's dystopian fiction category and No.11 in Children's mystery and thriller category on amazon.it.
★A coming-of-age story with a compelling style that perfectly combines fantasy elements with a touch of detective story and plays with the domain of reality.
★Well-portrayed female characters.
★Important values like friendship, memory and desires.
★9+, English sample available.

Sofia is a 13-year-old girl with red hair who loves studying and lives in Bobbio. At school, people make fun of her look, but luckily, she has her back covered by four fantastic girlfriends, especially Clara.

In the town, there is a bizarre shop: “The Boutique of Memories” where the owner, Mr. Ruggieri, buys and sells happy memories. One day, Clara disappears, and Sofia finds out that her parents have sold her happy memory about her friend. She is determined to trace it back and find Clara. In this sense, she decides to go to Mr. Ruggieri and ask information about the client. For privacy, the owner doesn’t reveal the name. Then, in the night, Sofia breaks into the shop and looks for the registry, finding out that the client’s name is Mr. De Grandis, a member of the noblest and richest family, and father of Dora, the girl now living with Sofia’s memory.

Sofia meets Dora and tells her the whole story. Even if shocked by the discovery, doesn’t know where Clara is, and she doesn’t want to give her memory away. Initially, Sofia cannot trust Dora but, by spending time together, they become friends, up to the point that Dora decides to give her back her memory. After received it, Sofia cannot remember what happened to Clara, so she thinks that Dora is hiding something. It leads to a discussion and an angry fight.

Sofia goes to the Boutique and Mr. Ruggrieri explains her that memories are fragile and sometimes, to avoid suffering, people hide the most painful ones. Now Sofia gets it all and she understands that Clara is linked to a painful memory.

On the Halloween night, Sofia is having fun with Dora and the other girls and they all decide to go to the river, a special place for Sofia and Clara. There, Sofia remembers all. When they went back from the trip (the last time Sofia saw Clara), Clara said her father wanted to take her away and forced her living with his new family, but she didn’t want to go, so the best option was to hide.

The girls find Clara hiding in an old house in the next village. Now, all friends are reunited and Dora says her uncle, a famous lawyer, is going to help Clara staying in Bobbio.
In the last scene, the girls take a photo together: a memory that can last forever.

The beginning of a great adventure full of surprises, new characters and friends, and fantastic discoveries.

Ilaria Prada has a degree in Literature and Languages and has worked abroad in different countries. From Eastern Europe she has realized several published reportages on women and childhood magazines. This book is her debut in children's fiction, winner of the "Become the Writers" contest and awarded the Golden Luigi, 'for the originality of the theme, simple, but capable of stimulating the imagination and affective participation of readers.'