reviews 10 – 14 Middle/Secondary continued


organisation Pop-Up, this sparkling       talented young poets. Each has a distinctive voice, and every one of the poems in this collection will catch the  them together in an anthology gives the poems even more impact and emphasises the unique power of poetry for young people as a means to share ideas, thoughts and feelings.


Ruth Awolola’s poems open the collection. At the time of publication she is just nineteen years old, but there’s already a maturity to her writing. In poems such as Mainly About Aliens and On Forgetting that I am a Tree place in the world, while Superpowers and the memorable Pockets have the sense of being inspired by real people. Victoria Adukwei Bulley’s section opens with a poem to Lucille Clifton, ‘a patron saint of black girls anywhere/ a healer of history with soft words’, and the acknowledgement in it that ‘Any poet’s pen is heavy, some say/it takes two hands to hold one.’ In poems that use a variety of different forms she wields the heavy pen with real skill and sensitivity, writing about experiences both personal and universal. Abigail Cook’s poems come very much from her own self, from My Body, beginning ‘My body is the garden I grew up in’ to Summer Day       pyjamas/ whilst the world ended.’ They’ll speak powerfully and directly to their audience. Performance poet Jay Hulme occasionally uses rhyme,  there’s a sense of playfulness to his poems, though always an edge too: the poem Peas will be excellent for class discussion. Amina Jama closes the collection and her poems, dreamy, intimate and lyrical, will leave readers thinking, wanting more.


The collection is illustrated by three       at Birmingham City University’s illustration course, and the whole project is a celebration of new talent, rising stars indeed. It’s exciting to read, will be exciting to share. Congratulations to all those involved in its creation. AR


Nevermoor: the trials of Morrigan Crow





Jessica Townsend, Orion, 375pp, 9781510104112, £12.99 hbk


Since early childhood Morrigan has been blamed for every bad thing that has befallen the people of her village: from her mother dying in childbirth to people tripping over or even wishing someone a good day. Because she was born on Eventide night she is doomed to die at the same time on  that date is fast approaching. However before this date there is the annual ‘bid’ ceremony where children


are chosen to attend different types of education. Morrigan is allowed to attend as an observer and is shocked when someone bids for her.      offers her the chance to train for the       of Nevermoor, Morrigan jumps at the opportunity to escape her fate, but is 


This is a truly magical story that has taken the publishing world by storm. The heroine is engaging, full of determination and a real role model for young girls. The world that she       created and feels so real that we are quite at home. Jupiter North is a fascinating and odd character who takes delight in breaking many of  he is absolutely on the side of good and is determined to prevent evil from winning. This evil comes in the form of a character called Ezra Squall who wants to use magic for his own ends and a character called Inspector Flintlock who is the epitome of a ‘job’s worth’. I particularly love the way that Morrigan grows as a person and learns to believe that she is not responsible for all the bad events that happen. She discovers that she has a value as a human being and that her innate goodness makes friends and helps her through hard times. This is a very strong message and one that resonates with young people today. I really look forward to reading more of her adventures and would really recommend this title to those who want a little magic in their lives. MP


Do you Speak Chocolate 


Cas Lester, Piccadilly Press, 269pp, 978 1 4714 0503 7, £5.99 pbk


This is such an aptly timed book for these times. The cover is enticing with some beautiful patterning and colours on the front.


The book a story about the ups and downs of Year 7 girls’ friendships revolving around the central character, Jaz. The whole book is very well observed not just on this issue but the many more that are intertwined throughout. The many other layers include the most important initial event that brings the whole story into life-the arrival of Nadima who doesn’t speak any English. The book unwraps like the bar of chocolate offered by Jaz as a gesture of friendship when Nadima is ushered into class with no English at all. The story then unfolds as the two girls develop a friendship using other ways of communicating but it also runs alongside managing a previous ‘best friend’ friendship in primary school with Lily who has since become friends with Kara. Jaz and Kara don’t get on and Lily is stuck in the middle hoping they do. This particular part of the books is very well done and accurate in my experience of dealing with girl


friendship issues-always much more complicated, it seems than dealing with boy friendships...well for the most part!


Nadima’s story gradually becomes clear through some clever and moving scenes as Jaz and others come to understand more of her own story. The writing draws you in to getting to know the characters and you quickly become part of their lives. All of them have their own challenges and all work in their different ways- another great aspect of the book for discussion and just helping people think a little more.


This book very much reminds me of Neil Gaiman’s speech to the Book   young people to empathise-reading opens the doors into other people’s worlds, sometimes ones we hope our own children don’t have to face. It is an excellent example of a book to make people think, maybe change people’s thinking and make us all a bit kinder for reading it. SG


Scarecrow 


Danny Weston, Andersen Press, 281pp, 978 1 78344 531 8, £7.99 pbk


          credible and thrilling adventure and


Scarecrow provides all


these elements. Jack’s father found evidence of insider trading at the bank where he worked and leaked the names of those involved to the national press, putting both himself and Jack in great danger. His friend Douglas offered them his hunting lodge in a remote part of Scotland as  is bi-polar, his moods and occasional hallucination controlled by


the


medication he does not always take, so that when he sees a scarecrow apparently catching and eating a bird which has strayed too close to him he feels sure that his mind is simply playing its usual tricks on him.


For once, however, this is not the case. Philbert is a very special scarecrow, a sentient being as a result of the ancient rituals observed when he was created by Annie, mother of Rhoda and wife of Ken, living on the farm nearest to the lodge. Annie, terminally ill with cancer,


constructed Philbert


to keep watch over the farm and her family after her death and when Jack and Rhoda become friends Philbert extends his duty of care to him. This becomes essential when Jack’s father’s  hiding place and try to make him sign a document saying that the claims he made were false. Mysterious things begin to hinder the thugs’ efforts as Philbert silently and doggedly protects those who he was made to keep safe. The tension is ratched up even further because only Jack knows his secret. Adventure powers through the pages and themes are worn lightly but convincingly. The adjective `unputdownable’ can be overused, but VR


Notes On My Family 


Emily Critchley, Everything With Words, 263pp, 978 1 91142 705 6, £8.99 pbk


Louise Coulson is different. She likes to eat foods of a certain colour on designated days, doesn’t eat certain food groups at the same time, loves trains and timetables and is profoundly uncomfortable around large groups of people. Inevitably, she is cruelly bullied at school but tells no- one. To add to her woes, her family life is far from tranquil. Her father, who teaches at the school she attends, is having an affair with a sixth-former and has left the family home to be with her, increasing the bullying which Lou has to endure. The affair proves too much for her mother, whose mental health deteriorates to the extent that she has to be sectioned, 


Into the midst of this misery and isolation comes Faith, born by surrogacy, raised by her two mothers, outrageously dressed, home- schooled, well-versed in philosophy       any kind. She becomes Lou’s unlikely champion-two talented but markedly unconventional young women forging a friendship on their own unusual terms. Faith is Amazonian in build and attitude and gives Lou the support she so badly needs, but the adventure and excitement she brings to Lou’s life begins to overwhelm her and, in a moment of panic, she abruptly ends the friendship.


This crisis in Lou’s life, when she must step out of her comfort zone or lose someone whose friendship she enjoys, is one which will be familiar to many young people. The stresses of modern life are clearly shown in Critchley’s narrative through Lou’s overly ordered behaviour and her talent for observation and self- analysis. Her ‘notes on my family’ are revealing, perceptive and hugely entertaining with dry humour woven through. Her decision to approach Faith in order to try to renew their friendship is a brave one and when Faith reveals her own tendency to depression the two forge a new relationship based on a mutual understanding and acceptance       reassure many


readers-particularly


young women who have lost their way in our often bewildering society. The narrative needs tightening in places, with some passages overlong and rather repetitive, but Faith, Lou and the travails of Lou’s family need to be widely read. VR


The Land of Neverendings 


Kate Saunders, Faber & Faber, 348pp, 978-0-5713-1084-5, £10.99 pbk


Holly (aged 15) and Emily (11) are sisters. Holly is disabled with seizures, impaired vision and lack of oxygen. As the story opens, Holly has 


Books for Keeps No.227 November 2017 29


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