BfK


considerable and encompasses much wisdom, with issues relating to wealth, greed and the dangers thereof, as well as kindness and compassion. Then there is the consideration of the language used and the wordiness of the story, with


The level of sophistication


10 – 14 Middle/Secondary continued is


which employ surreal and distorted textured images of contorted people, animals and objects, that stream across the pages in Bayeux Tapestry-like fashion.


style


its seeming disconnectedness. Equally sophisticated are uninhibited


illustrations, the


I think, depends on the context in which it is read. If given to a group or class of older children/students for a philosophical discussion, then I think their experience in a shared ‘community of inquiry’ would


once, be enjoyable, stimulating and challenging. JB


at Provocative, yes; enjoyable? That, 14+ Secondary/Adult We Come Apart HHHHH


Sarah Crossan and Brian Conaghan, Bloomsbury, 344pp, 978-1-4088-7885-9, £12.99, hbk


We come apart brings together two award


Crossan and Costa’s Brian Conaghan, to share in telling the story of star- crossed almost lovers, Jess and Nicu. They each have their own problems. Nicu newly arrived from Romania with his parents, struggling with the language and money and unrealistic dreams. Jess with her mum’s new boyfriend, who not only beats her mum up but forces Jess to film him doing it. Nicu and Jess meet working in the park on a community service project


arrests for shoplifting. Slowly, there and back at school, they get to know one another. The story is told in short poem chapters in the free verse form familiar from Crossan’s The Weight of Water and One, although here the


to allow less space for the almost self-contained, and often reflective, episodes of those novels; sometimes appearing more as cut up prose and dialogue. Each character takes it in turns to tell the story from their point of view. Nicu’s voice is particularly clever. He is mostly written as if just


often getting them wrong in a rather learning English idioms and drive of the narrative seems following their separate winners, Carnegie’s Sarah


engaging and sometimes poetical kind of way. But his conversations in Romanian with his mother and father are in standard grammatical English. Collaboration


unusual. You imagine it is easier with this format rather than with a prose novel. And it works seamlessly here. It is temptingly conventional to think that Conaghan might be responsible for


Jess’s, Nicu’s


well be the other way round or an entirely


however the collaboration was done, it has worked brilliantly, with both characters having equal weight and being entirely believable, even if the themes of domestic violence, school bullying, immigrant


arranged marriage (this time it’s Nicu) are not unfamiliar in contemporary teen fiction. CB


Mind the Gap


actor dad dies Mikey is devastated and spins into a downward spiral of alcohol, despair and self-destruction. The first person narrator of the story, Mikey’s best mate, is also devastated, this time at the loss of his best friend.


Mikey’s desperation at not


violent estate where the boys live, via the South Bank and encounters with crooked street performers, an angry agent and a vicious bully, to the depths of Embankment underground station where Mikey’s dad’s voice is returned to him thanks to the train announcement system. Phil Earle has written a powerful,


takes him from the


able to remember his dad’s voice he sets off on a mission to find it and give Mikey his memories back. This quest


rough,


When he realises being


and baiting, and


although shared


responsibility. But,


voice and Crossan for it could


equally between authors is fathers and sons, without


up on the urgency of the plot which has its origins in the true story of the original actor who voiced the ‘Mind the Gap’ announcement and his grieving widow. This gritty novel


Barrington Stoke’s YA collection and is aimed at both the ‘book eater’ and the ‘book avoider’ as described in the afterword.


is part


readable YA’ is no exaggeration and this is definitely a book to recommend to any older teens who want a short, punchy read. SR


Goodbye Days HHHH


Jeff Zentner, Andersen Press, 416pp, 978-1-7834-4551-6, £7.99 pbk


HHHHH


Phil Earle, Barrington Stoke, 99pp,978 1 78112 589 2, £7.99 pbk


When Mikey’s charismatic, unsuccessful


mostly absent


Carver Briggs is an American youth of seventeen. He has three friends, Eli Bauer, Thurgood Edwards known as Mars, and Blake Lloyd. His three friends are to pick Carver up at the library where he works. But they are late. Carver sends a text to find out where his friends are. The three die in a fatal car crash. The police find a half composed message on Mars’s phone. Was he texting Carver as he drove the car? Was Carver at fault for texting him when he knew Mars would be at the wheel of his car? The rest of Zentner’s novel deals


with the aftermath of tragedy. Carver must learn to cope with his grief and maintain his life. Members of the three


or hinder this process. Some help comes in unexpected and dramatic form. The book delivers for the reader with searing honesty in respect of loss, grief and guilt. The detail of the process after the accident is utterly realistic. Many novels for


emotional and honest story about the destructive nature of grief and the life-saving effects of true friendship. The setting and the dialogue feel real and raw, the pace is relentless and the resolution satisfying and clever. The portrayal of Mikey, a young man unable to express his strong emotions, is heart-breaking.


author brilliantly conveys the depths and complexities of the relationships, between best mates and between


30 Books for Keeps No.223 March 2017 The


readers have a lethal motor crash as their narrative climax, leaving the reader to wonder how survivors might cope. Zentner takes the crash as his starting point, an unusual approach. There is however


flaw in the credibility of the book. Carver has some sessions with a psychotherapist, Dr Mendez. The therapist


his own feelings, which professional counsellors very rarely do, striking an unconvincing note. RB


talks one serious very openly about young bereaved families can help The tagline ‘Super- letting All About Mia of HHHHH


Lisa Williamson, David Fickling Books, 367pp, 978 1 910989 10 4, £10.99 hbk


‘And I’m just left in the middle,’ says Mia quite late in the book, ‘looking like a complete disaster whatever I do.’ By this point, readers have seen plenty of episodes, often clouded by drink, to confirm Mia’s defeated view of herself. There’s little


between perfect older sister Grace, the first student from their comp. to get a place at Cambridge and younger sister Audrey, already tipped at 13 as a future Olympian in the swimming pool. Her Mum and Dad might regularly assure all their daughters of their love, but Mia is certain she’s a disappointment to them – and, for that matter, to her teachers who were expecting her to be Grace Mark II. She’s not especially committed to anything, unless you count having a good time with best mate Stella, gay and witty Mikey and gentle Kimmy.


each other at the moment, anyway. After 20 years or more, they’ve decided it’s time they got married. All the talk is of Dad giving Mum ‘the wedding of her dreams’, of ‘our special day’, of ghastly lilac-chiffon bridesmaids’


nothing for Mia – with her huge Afro and striking good looks she’s clearly her Jamaican Dad’s daughter. With all this going on in, it’s not easy having to edge round Mum and Dad snogging by the fridge (it’s a small house) or even rolling about amorously together on the carpet. Grace is the immediate


he plans to read medicine. Grace has come home early because she’s pregnant. For a moment, Mia glimpses freedom – at last, Grace has messed up. But


next day, Mum and Grace are poring over push-chair catalogues and Sam’s being enthusiastically welcomed into the family. Now it’s either The Baby or The Wedding shaping family life – even the choice of that lilac-chiffon monstrosity was decided by what would suit Grace’s bump. It is here that Lisa Williamson’s deft handling of a small cast of characters – very evident in


to her astonishment, by the for Cambridge where dresses, which do Mum and Dad are wrapped up with room for manoeuvre


of Mia’s problems. Always admired, always praised - until she returns from a gap year archeological dig in Greece with new boyfriend, super-posh Sam, also heading


source


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