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Cloud Busting Malorie Blackman, Corgi Yearling, 978-0-4408-6615-2, £6.99 pbk


A story about bullying told in verse. Unusually this story is not told from the viewpoint of the bullied child, but by the bully himself. Sam is tormented by guilt, but as the story unfolds he works through his painful feelings and learns to forgive himself. Sam is just an ordinary boy caught up in the pressures of belonging to a group; as he tells his


story, we


understand how easily this happens and the devastating effect it has on the bully as well as the victim.


Wonder R.J Palacio, Corgi Children’s Books, 978-0-5525-6597-4, £7.99 pbk


August is just 10 years old and people have stared at him his whole life. He has a syndrome which has caused severe facial deformities. He is braving school for first time and Wonder tells the story of his first school year. In this beautifully written book, August, the most beguiling of characters, tells his own story while his friends and older sister tell theirs. The reader experiences a deep sense of how it feels to be August, the insensitivity he experiences daily, the love his family and friends feel for him and the profound impact he has on those around him.


Mirror Jeannie Baker, Walker Books, 978-0-7445-9486-7, £6.99 pbk


Mirror, a picture book without words, compares life for two young boys and their families in Australia and Morocco. The differences between these two countries and cultures are starkly visible in the wonderful collage illustrations, but ... look more closely and the similarities are also very clear as people work, eat, look after their families and get through their days. This is a book that demands to be shared and discussed.


If you could be mine Sara Farizan, Algonquin, 978-1-6162-0455-6, £7.99 pbk


A young adult novel from an American publisher, set in Iran and written by the daughter of Iranian immigrants. Sahar is a teenager in love with her best friend Nasrin. In modern day Iran such a love has to be kept utterly hidden, but when Nasrin announces she is to be married, Sahar resorts to desperate measures to keep her. This novel


forces a Western


reader to confront some shocking truths about life in some countries for teenagers whose sexuality doesn’t conform to the expected norm, and to understand why Sahar is willing to take such risks to be with the person she loves.


The Diddakoi Rumer Godden, Macmillan Children’s Books, 978-0-2307-6989-2, £5.99 pbk This story gives a rich insight into the culture of Traveller people, but more importantly,


gives us the chance to


experience life as Kizzy – the central character. Reflecting on the hatred and bullying she receives from villagers and schoolmates


was when the book was first published back in 1972.


EmpathyLab combines great books with creative activities like Empathy Detectives, designed to inspire children’s deep thinking about characters and generate ideas for putting empathy into action. We are beginning our work with schools, libraries and communities and are supported by authors, publishers, psychologists and educationalists.


Can you recommend a great empathy read? Tweet it to @EmpathyLabUk


is as important today as it


Sarah Mears is one of EmpathyLab’s five founders and also Library Services Manager at Essex Libraries and Chair of the Association of Senior Children and Education Librarians


Books for Keeps No.216 January 2016 11


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