With Christmas fast approaching, I have decided to rerun one of my book reviews each day in the hope that they might provide inspiration for anyone looking to buy a book as a gift for a child this year. It has been incredibly difficult to select only 24 from the 2023 bookshelves, but I hope that you like some of my choices.
December 11th
Debut novelist Josh Silver has written an exceptional YA thriller which combines a dystopian take on the wellness industry with a tender and rawly emotional romance between two teenage boys. This is such a compelling read that I finished the book in one sitting. The publisher’s blurb makes comparisons with The Hunger Games and in my opinion this book deserves to be seen in that exulted top tier of YA fiction. I’d recommend for a readership of 14+ and you can read my full review for more details of Happy Head here.
I was sent a review copy of Happy Head by Liz Scott PR and publisher Rock the Boat Books.
With Christmas fast approaching, I have decided to rerun one of my book reviews each day in the hope that they might provide inspiration for anyone looking to buy a book as a gift for a child this year. It has been incredibly difficult to select only 24 from the 2023 bookshelves, but I hope that you like some of my choices.
December 9th
You can read my full review of 21 Miles here. This is a deeply moving and relevant novel aimed at secondary school children, I would recommend it for 11 years old and above. It recounts an extraordinary day in the lives of two 17 year old protagonists, Donny and Zoe, as they set of for a day trip to Calais to practise French for their upcoming exams and find themselves caught up in the tragedy of teenage asylum seekers.
Written by a secondary school teacher who has experience of volunteering in the Calais refugee camps, this story brilliantly captures authentic teenage voices and experience, and brings alive the plight of young individuals who seek the chance to join relatives for a life of safety. Donny is a charming protagonist, who has escaped a desperately hard upbringing himself and has the empathy and idealism to want to help others. It is beautifully crafted, enjoyable to read and makes you think; a great combination!
I was sent a review copy of 21 Miles by publisher Hope Road and Lisa Shakespeare PR.
Cover design by James Nunn, illustration by Olivia Anthony, published by Hope Road Publishing, 5 October 2023 ISBN 9781913109219
21 Miles, the seemingly short distance between Dover and Calais, but for some it is the distance between life and death.
I finished reading this short but powerful book two nights ago, but I have needed to take a little time to order my thoughts and I am still not certain that I can do it justice in a review. The story takes place over the span of 24 hours, during which two seventeen year olds, Donny and Zoe, experience the peak of excitement engendered by a teenage day trip to Calais, and the desperate trough of illegal status in hostile surroundings. These two main protagonists are beautifully observed and it was not a surprise for me to find out that author Nicola Garrard has taught in secondary schools for 20 years; she captures teenage speech patterns, attitudes and idealism perfectly. The day begins with Zoe collecting Donny in her brand new mini, to take him on his first ever overseas trip, a day return journey to Calais, so that they can spend a few hours practising their French in preparation for upcoming exams. Their wonderful friendship brims with life on the page, Zoe is kind and understanding, while Donny is chivalrous and protective of her, and clearly more than a little in love with her too.
After an enjoyable few hours tasting the tourist delights and even managing to try out their French vocabulary, their journey home is interrupted by Donny’s open-hearted, albeit illegal attempt to help out a young refugee. His naive plan to swap clothes with the teenage lad and lend him his passport, sending Amin across to the UK in Zoe’s car, soon goes horribly wrong. Donny soon finds himself on the run and is confronted by the harsh reality of life without legal documentation, without money and suffering violence at the hands of racist adults. As the story unfolds, the reader is given glimpses into Donny’s life before he was fostered by a lawyer in an affluent part of Hertfordshire; a childhood of deprivation and uncertainty with a drug-addicted single mother after his father became a victim of the Windrush scandal and was forced to return to St Lucia.
This experience in his early life has given Donny a legacy of huge empathy with anyone that he sees as a victim of injustice and his sense of wanting to make a difference to individuals with lives less fortunate than his own is developed through the story. Through the universal bond of football, he makes friends with a group of young refugees who have formed a self-supporting unit in the dunes of Calais and the portrayed kindness of individuals who have very little themselves is utterly humbling to read. The final third of the book is a masterpiece of tense plotting as we increasingly feel Donny’s desperation to find a way back across the Channel.
21 Miles is a book which has been crafted with care and attention to detail, to encourage tween and teenage readers to think about the human stories behind the refugee headlines. Nicola Garrard has volunteered in refugee camps in Calais and has channeled her experience into a gritty and gripping tale which encourages empathy without ever hectoring the reader. She has used an authenticity reader who is a youth worker with a refugee background to ensure the accuracy of the North African Muslim experience portrayed by some of the characters. I think that 21 Miles is beautifully written, with short chapters and dynamic pacing, making it perfect to engage a readership of 11+. I would highly recommend it to secondary and middle school librarians for children in Year 7 and above.
I have not read the precursor story, 29 Locks (although I now have that title at the top of my book shopping list) but found that this story worked very well as a standalone novel.
I am very grateful to Lisa Shakespeare and Hope Road Publishing for sending me a copy of 21 Miles to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
Cover image by Jo Lindley, published by Farshore Books, 9 November 2023, ISBN 9780755503445
Hello Winter is the fourth book in the Best Friends with Big Feelings series, written and illustrated by the immensely talented Jo Lindley.
In the imaginary land of Season Isle (beautiful map at the start of the book), four friends, Spring Summer, Autumn and Winter take turns to wear the seasonal crown. The chosen one is the leader of fun and games for the duration of their season.
Imagine Winter’s surprise and hurt when Autumn passes the crown directly to Spring and subsequently her three ‘friends’ tell Winter that they don’t enjoy her frosty games! Winter takes herself off to her favourite spot in the Slippy Slopes, but somehow building a snowman and throwing snowballs is not as much fun on her own as it used to be with her companions. Meanwhile, Spring, Summer and Autumn have realised that they were unkind and start searching the snowy landscape for their friend.
With a colourful, cosy compromise, the four friends find that they can all enjoy winter activities and young readers or listeners will discover that joy can be shared when empathy abounds. This is a lovely picture book in which the expressive artwork and clear text convey the inner feelings of the characters perfectly to children of 4 to 6 years of age. It would make a lovely winter time gift and I feel sure would work very well as a read aloud book in a nursery, early years or key stage one classroom.
My thanks to Sarah Sleath at Farshore Books for sending me a review copy ahead of publication on 9 November 2023.
You can read my review of an earlier book in the series Hello Summer here.
Cover illustration by Zainab ‘Daby’ Faidhi, published by Old Barn Books, 19 October 2023
I read the majority of Kicked Out on a return train journey last week, and such was the hold of the story that I almost wished for a delay so that I could finish the book! The first thing that I will say is that if you haven’t read Boy, Everywhere yet, I would strongly encourage you to do so, in order to have the back stories of the main protagonists of this story.
Sami and his family are now settled in Manchester and his Dad (Baba) is now working at the hospital, having proved his status as a surgeon. However, the asylum process has not worked out so well for Aadam, the unaccompanied Syrian teen whom they met on the journey to the UK and who has been welcomed into their home. He did not have his official documents with him and under the stress of interview he made some mistakes when recounting dates in his asylum claim; he is therefore threatened with deportation unless he can raise £4000 for legal fees to launch an appeal. Boy, Everywhere provided readers with an insight into a refugee journey and Kicked Out continues to educate us in the process that an individual who wishes to claim refugee status must complete.
Meanwhile, Mark’s life has changed radically following his Mum’s big win on the lottery. He and Mum have moved from a council flat into a gated community in Hale Barns, and he is grateful to see his Mum happy for the first time since she was widowed years earlier. Unfortunately, her new boyfriend Callum, is a bullying racist who has no qualms about wearing a T-shirt bearing a racist slogan and hurling racist abuse at Mark’s best friends, Ali and Sami. The boys go from enjoying lazy days by the heated pool to being thrown off the property and banned from associating with Mark, when Callum accuses them of helping Aadam to steal thousands of pounds in cash.
Ali then suffers a further blow when his absent father, who has not had any contact with the family since walking out on them years earlier, turns up in the neighbourhood and Ali’s half-brother, Mustafa, joins Ali’s school. This story is narrated by Ali, and his pain at the rejection by his father; his resentment that his half-brother has replaced him in his Dad’s affections; his feelings of low self-esteem that gradually build to anger and lashing out at those around him, are explored in a way that will be recognisable to readers of 10 to 15. I really liked the way that author A.M. Dassu explores the unwillingness of boys to openly admit their feelings, whether due to pride or the desire to not involve others in their suffering. She also cleverly delivers the message of finding the inner strength to face up to difficult situations through the voice of a premier league goalkeeper, which will be appealing to many readers of this novel. I love the way that male friendship is investigated, and the importance of having a supportive network is highlighted.
This is a book that shows children the many different experiences of family that might be the reality for their classmates, the importance of forgiveness and the power and sense of belonging that can be found in friends and found-families. With a football-related school-fundraising scheme designed to help a young person who is facing the cruelty of deportation, this is an empathy-builder which I am sure will be in great demand when it is published in the autumn of 2023.
I am most grateful to Ruth at Old Barn Books and Liz Scott PR for sending me an early review copy prior to publication on 19 October 2023. The book is available for pre-order now.
Publisher Old Barn Books, cover illustration by Zainab ‘Daby’ Faidhi, October 2020
When I received an advanced review copy of Kicked Out by A.M. Dassu last week, I realised that I hadn’t actually written a review of Boy, Everywhere as I originally read it at a time when I was swamped with writing up coursework assignments and then gave my copy away. Fortunately, the audiobook was available from my wonderful public library, so my walks to and from work this week have been enriched by Felix Star’s wonderful narration of this powerful novel.
Boy, Everywhere is for people everywhere and I would urge you to read or listen to it and recommend it to everyone that you know. I honestly believe that fiction has the power to change hearts and minds and through the voice of thirteen year old Sami, the author enables us all to travel the path of a refugee and realise that their story could be our story. Sami lives a golden life in Damascus, where his father, Baba, is a surgeon and his mother, Mama, is a headteacher. He attends a good school, loves football and video games, hangs out with best friend Joseph and feels safe in the modern capital city while civil unrest rages in Aleppo. That is, until the day when the local shopping mall is attacked and Mama and Sara are caught up in the aftermath and his life will change forever.
Author, A.M. Dassu, is so clever in presenting Sami’s life in Damascus as one that resonates with readers here, so that we can truly feel his pain and bewilderment as all aspects of ordinary life – hot showers, clean bathrooms, personal space, regular meals – are stripped away on the arduous refugee journey. In writing for an upper middle grade audience, her protagonist describes the dangers and trauma of the journey through Lebanon and Turkey and across the Mediterranean on a small boat in language that allows readers to feel the unrelenting state of anxiety without going too deeply into the horrors that are experience en route. I also admired the way that Sami is presented as a regular teenage boy, resentful of the decision that his parents have made to rip him away from the life he knew whilst also struggling with the guilt he feels at having insisted that his mum should collect his new football boots from the shopping mall on the day of the explosion. He makes some foolish decisions along the way, sometimes can be a bit irritating but also reveals his kindness towards an unaccompanied Syrian teenager called Aadam who is also waiting for a boat out of Turkey.
Boy, Everywhere provides an education into the harsh and brutal reality faced by refugees as they seek safety by personalising the journey, a narrative that is often missing from the reports in the mainstream media. As well as exposing the hostility encountered in the asylum system the story also shows the difference that acts of kindness can make to an individual’s experience and outcomes. I have to admit that my favourite character in the story is Ali, a classmate at Sami’s new school in Manchester, who reaches out the hand of friendship and who is the anchor for Sami’s assimilation into his new life.
The recommended reading age for this book is 10-14, I think that many adults would benefit from reading it too. Lookout for a follow up story, Kicked Out, which will be published on 19 October 2023, it is available to pre-order now. My review of an advanced copy will appear soon!
Cover art by Stephen Michael King, publisher Old Barn Books, June 2023
I wanted to post my review of Pea Pod Lullaby, a wonderfully subtle and poignant picture book during #RefugeeWeek2023 as it made me reflect so deeply on the plight of refugees. This is a book that eloquently expresses the interconnectedness of climate change and conflict and their dual impact on the poorest members of the global community. As I sat reading it on a family beach holiday I was struck by the difference between my experience of the coast as an environment for relaxation and the wildly different resonance that the coast must have for those who are displaced.
This truly collaborative book began as artwork painted onto the walls of the Manning Regional Art Gallery in Australia by Stephen Michael King. Having started the painting, he was joined by Glenda Millard who added the words, adapting her poem as the artwork progressed. The result is an absolutely beautiful book depicting the voyage of a mother, a baby, a child and a dog (joined en route by a polar bear) as they flee from conflict, holding on to the hope that they will be welcomed into safety.
The tiny boat sailing on a vast expanse of ocean in many of the spreads is a breathtaking representation of the precariousness of life for so many in our world. I found that each individual line of the poem caused me to pause and make a detailed observation of the art, and I know that this is a book I will want to return to repeatedly. The overall impression is one of awe at the resilience of the human spirit.
I think that primary school teachers and librarians will want to use Pea Pod Lullaby at every age level, there are so many ways in which this book can be studied and enjoyed. It would also make a wonderful gift for a young child. To the best of my memory I have never before seen an image in which the synergy between climate change and displacement is so subtly portrayed as in this spread on pages 7 and 8.
image of pages 7 and 8 from Pea Pod Lullaby, artwork by Stephen Michael King, words by Glenda Millard
I am hugely grateful to Old Barn Books and to Liz Scott for sending me a review copy of Pea Pod Lullaby in exchange for my honest opinion.
Cover art by Joy Laforme, published by Old Barn Books 27 April 2023
In the centre of a 60 acre former farm situated on the Great Ocean Road, some distance from the rural town of Warrnambool, stands a magnificent manna gum tree. Housed within its branches are hundreds of lorikeets and a beautifully crafted treehouse which provides a sanctuary for 15-year-old Alex when life threatens to overwhelm him. The refuge provided by this ancient tree sits literally and metaphorically at the heart of this beautiful story, in which the interdependence of all life is sensitively explored.
The story is told through a literature assignment written by Alex’s twin sister Emily. Well-known Australian author, Paul Jennings, has captured the authentic voice of a smart teenage girl as she recounts a traumatic year in her family’s history with searing honesty. In so-doing, he makes the writing accessible to an upper middle grade through to young adult readership, the prose is totally relatable to the intended audience. I loved the device of including the teachers’ comments at the end of each seasonal account.
Alex and Emily’s dad has made it his life’s work to return what was once barren farmland back into an indigenous forest. providing a habitat for native species from blue-tongued lizards, to koalas, fairy wrens and of course the lorikeets. In addition to this, he has raised his twins alone since their mum was killed in a car crash in their early childhood. Emily shares both his passion for wildlife and for writing, whilst sensitive Alex who has a natural flair for building has helped with the treehouse construction. However, the teenagers now have to face their greatest challenge as their once strong and vital father grows weaker from an untreatable brain tumour. Emily’s incredible reflective writing details the emotional journey that her family are on; with honest admission of the struggle of being the “strong” one; her conflicted feelings when Dad appears to go against all his principles to allow Alex to keep a feral kitten and her unspoken feelings towards Matthew, the forest and wildlife officer, who helps them out.
This is a book with a huge heart; compassionately dealing with the impending death of a parent; showing the power of family love and empathy; and reflecting on the oneness of the natural world. I loved the Australian bushland setting and the vivid descriptions of the local ecology and don’t mind admitting that a few tissues were required. I would suggest that this book is best suited for readers of 11+ with no upper age limit, as a middle-aged librarian, I found the writing profound and enriching. I highly recommend to all secondary school librarians and classroom book collections and to anyone working in the field of teenage mental health.
I am very grateful to Old Barn Books and Liz Scott PR for providing me with a review copy of The Lorikeet Tree in return for my honest opinion.
Cover image by Sarah McIntyre, published by David Fickling Books, May 2022
Every so often I come across a book that captures my heart so powerfully that I bang on about it endlessly to those who know me in real life, and purchase multiple editions to give away. I suspected that I would love the latest MG title from Lissa Evans as I am a huge fan of her writing (for both adults and children) and I had read great reviews by two of the bloggers whose recommendations I always trust. However, I really was not prepared for how much I would love it. The phrase “modern classic” is often bandied around – but this story genuinely has all the ingredients to deserve this accolade in my opinion. Reading it gave me the same sense of utter joy that I first felt when I discovered Five Children and It by E Nesbit as a child, one of the characters gave me Just William vibes and the intricately constructed comical wordplay had me laughing out loud in the same register as the Jeeves and Wooster stories by PG Wodehouse. With the deft touch of a writer who is utterly confident in her craft, Lissa Evans has created a story which is deeply moving, wildly imaginative, perfectly plotted and hilariously funny. I don’t expect to read a finer book this year.
There are five main characters in this story, brother and sister Ed and Roo (Lucy), Ed is about 10 and Roo about eight; a boy called Willard who has just moved into the neighborhood; an elderly neighbour Miss Filey, and the most gloriously imperious cat, Atlee. The plot is based on the fact that the birthday candles from Miss Filey’s abandoned 10th birthday party have lain in a drawer for fifty years until Roo lights one of them for Willard’s birthday cake…and their magical power to grant wishes is unleashed. Suddenly the most boring half-term holiday in the entire history of the universe becomes a thrilling journey through a book of fantastical adventures!
The interplay of the characters is absolutely brilliant and the character development over the course of a 250 page story is quite incredible. Ed is a wheelchair user and is clearly not comfortable with the sympathetic comments of strangers or the fact that he has become the face of a fundraising campaign to raise the money to make his family home more accessible. His character is depicted with great skill so that he actually appears as a real ten year old with a complexity of character traits rather than just a two-dimensional figure to raise an issue. He can be quite abrupt and sarcastic, and actually treats his little sister Roo quite selfishly at times. She clearly looks up to him and will do anything to protect and look after him, while he takes her devotion for granted. It takes their new neighbour Willard with his blunt outspokenness to point out to Ed that he should show some gratitude to Roo for everything that she does for him.
Willard is a self-labelled “class clown”. As the son of a vicar he has moved frequently and clearly uses humour to settle into new school environments. Initially, Ed resents this newcomer who might take his position as the boy who amuses the class but they develop a mutual respect and friendship as the story progresses. I really enjoyed Willard’s character; big-hearted, kind and always finding enjoyment in any situation.
Miss Filey is a spinster in her 60s, who has cared for her parents all her life, putting her own dreams on hold for many years. The children consider her to be terribly boring when they discover that she is going to be looking after them for half term, but as they find out about her background and begin to see the girl she once was, they form a wonderful bond with her. The tacit understanding and poignant conversation between Ed and Miss Filey towards the end of the story, where the roles of adult and child are touchingly reversed, is liable to have you reaching for a box of tissues.
Finally, a great deal of the comedy is generated by Atlee an extremely smelly cat of advanced years who exhibits the most acerbic sarcasm that I have encountered in a middle-grade novel. I marvelled at the way his character generated moments of utter hilarity, whilst delivering withering one-liners and simultaneously trying to conceal his genuine affection for Roo in particular. I am not and have never been a cat person, but Atlee is one of the greatest animal characters I have discovered in fiction.
I don’t want to describe any of the magical adventures for fear of ruining anyone’s enjoyment of the perfectly crafted plot. However, I will say that along with the perfectly crafted adventures, I loved the emphasis in the narrative of choosing your words carefully to ensure that there is no ambiguity in what you might say, or wish for. In a novel in which it appears that every single word has been selected with care, I thought this was wonderful.
I have chosen to review Wished for Empathy Day 2022 because this is one of those stories where you get a real insight into the characters’ motivations for the way they behave as the story unfolds, and you also witness the characters developing an understanding of each other, followed positive actions to improve each others’ lives. The utter joy of the book is that it is so astonishingly well written that you absorb these messages by some kind of magical literary osmosis whilst revelling in the outrageously funny story. There is an increasing amount of academic research into the positive benefits of reading fiction for developing our ability to experience empathy; this year’s theme is “Empathy is our Superpower”. Read Wished and you will certainly become an Empathy superhero! I think this would be an absolutely brilliant book to read aloud with children, whether you are a teacher, librarian or parent/carer, I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
Catch A Star and Little Steps are the imprints of New Frontier Publishing dedicated to producing top quality books for babies, toddlers and early years children. I am always delighted when they send me a package of books to review as I know that I will find titles that are carefully designed to engage these age groups, present positive messages and provide vocabulary building opportunities and awareness of the world.
Clementine’s Bath
Cover illustration by Annie White, published by Catch A Star, April 2022
This rhyming, beautifully illustrated story will appeal to children aged 3-6 whether they have a pet dog or not. Clementine, as drawn by Annie White, looks like an adorable family pet, with a coat as crinkly and soft-looking as a favourite teddy bear. On the first spread she is seen enjoying the scents from the garden flowers…but there, lurking in the lower right hand corner is a little hint of the assault on the senses to come! Yes, Clementine finds and overturned dustbin and delights in rolling around in the rubbish, meaning that she will need to be bathed.
I am looking forward to sharing this charming book with the youngest relative. There is so much energy portrayed in Annie White’s beautiful artwork as the multi-generational family try to catch Clementine and she tries to hide in various places around the house and garden. Her final journey to the bath is laugh-out-loud fun! At the end of the story there is an utterly delightful plan of the house and garden, showing the story journey. I haven’t seen this used in a book for this audience before and I think it is a brilliant idea which I can see being used by Key Stage 1 teachers as part of the early geography curriculum.
Clementine’s Treasure
Cover illustration by Anne White, published by Catch A Star, May 2022
This is a perfect picture book to share with little ones over the Platinum Jubilee weekend. As in the previous Clementine title, Annie White’s engaging, rhyming text is accompanied by her warm, stylish illustrations. This time Clementine is confused by the energy going into cleaning the house and baking a huge, celebratory afternoon tea. The activity is explained when the glamorous Queen arrives, only to have her prize jewel swiped by Clementine who rushes out to the garden to play with her glittery new toy. When the Queen pauses her cupcake consumption long enough to notice the missing necklace, the entire family search their home, inside and out…finally finding it in a location that will make young children roar with laughter!
The beautiful, expressive illustrations of a multi-generational family, their cheeky canine and assorted chickens, provide so much interest for young children. Again, there is a super story map at the end, so that children can track the action of the narrative and Catch A Star have provided teacher notes here.
Little Days Out: At the Pool
Cover illustration by Sally Garland, published by Catch A Star
A top quality lift-the-flap board book in bright, primary colours, At the Pool is the perfect title to share with babies and toddlers as the weather warms and trips to the pool become a possibility. The happy, positive illustrations by Sally Garland depict all the common scenes you would expect from a visit to the swimming pool, from the reception desk, to the changing rooms, the pool itself and finally the cafe for a post-swim snack. The simple clear text outlining baby’s first pool visit with her Dad and big brother introduces new vocabulary and the “flaps” are perfectly designed and robust enough to provide hours of fun. I highly recommend this to nurseries, pre-schools and parents/carers of children from 6 months of age.
Meadow & Marley’s Magical Mix
Cover illustration by Natalie Creed, published by Little Steps, 1st June 2022
Meadow and Marley are on a mission to understand their heritage in this wonderful picture book written by Katie Mantwa George, who is herself of mixed South African and British heritage. It is a truly empowering story of twins Meadow and Marley who use a trip to the outdoor food market with their mum and aunt to try to discover why the family are constantly asked where they are from. It is such a clever concept to use a situation that will be familiar to most young children to explore multi-culturalism, and the explanation of their “magical mix” by mum is a beautiful summary and celebration of a mixed heritage. The gorgeous artwork by Natalie Creed highlights the positive benefits to us all that stem from a society that is inclusive of all nationalities and combinations of nationalities, including happy smiling depictions of adults and children of many ethnicities, and a mouth-watering selection of cuisines.
This is a fantastic book to share with children of 3-6 years of age, everyone can see themselves represented within the pages, and definitely one that school’s could add to their Empathy Day reading lists.
I am most grateful to Catch A Star and Little Steps Publishing for sending me review copies of this picture book selection, in return for my honest opinion.
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