The Boy in the Suit by James Fox

Right from the beginning of this book it is clear this young boy has a fraught relationship with his mother and also it is clear that she is suffering from a serious mental illness. When he was born, she named her son Solo. This name means Solo has to suffer lots of bullying and name calling at school. 

On page two we read a description of Morag's clothing:

"Morag was wearing her favourite party outfit: a black leather jacket, black hat with lace that partially covered her eyes, smart black skirt with black tights, and black boots that came up to her knees."

Then we read about her moods:

"Morag got in a mood like this sometimes. She had a special name for it: the Big Bad Reds, or the BBRs for short. Apparently, an evil red mist would descent into her eyes, and all she could see was how rubbish the whole world was. Whenever Morag was suffering from the BBrs, her voice went snappy and the words she used didn't sound anything like the real her .. There were so many words like depression and anxiety floating around, but I wasn't sure that's what Morag had. All I knew was that some of her mood were trickier than others."

Dad left long ago and now mum (Solo calls her Morag) has lost her job. It is clear they will be evicted very soon because the rent has not been paid. As a way to find food Morag takes Solo along to funerals. They sit though the church service and then 'gate crash' the after party. Solo wears an old charity shop suit which is way too big for him but it does have large pockets. He also carries small plastic bags. He collects the buffet food surreptitiously and then deposits it Morag's large handbag. Solo hates doing this and he is also in desperate fear they will be found out. It is even worse when Morag finds the free drinks at the 'party' and often becomes quite drunk.

Then comes the funeral where they are 'found out'. And even worse a newspaper publishes photos of Solo and Morag and the social media world goes viral. And Solo get a new horrid name - Funeral Boy.

The part of this book that made me shudder is the description of the way Solo's teacher treats him. She has absolutely no emotional intelligence, no empathy and is at times, even cruel towards Solo who clearly is suffering. He has no food, the wrong clothes and with no access to proper hygiene I am sure he must smell. All she can do is give him demerit points and threats. The scenes near the end of the book when she learns the truth about Solo and his dreadful life circumstances left me feeling hollow. Her apology feels somewhat fake especially when she tells Solo her own mum also had mental health issues. I was left wanting to scream at her for her terrible behaviour. Luckily there is a teacher's aide in the school who does see Solo needs help. She is able to give him shoes and information about a local food bank. Sadly his mum will not accept charity and so they do not visit the food bank and she refuses to complete the necessary forms. The other wonderful character in this book is a new girl called Chetna. She is kind to Solo, she is patient with him, and she is even willing to take huge risks when Morag goes missing and Solo makes a plan to travel to a seaside holiday resort by running away from a school excursion. 

There are other adults who want to help Solo but he is so protective of Morag - these parts of this story will break your heart. 

The Boy in the Suit is a stark portrayal of the cost of living crisis and its impact on children. It highlights those invisible children who can easily slip through the cracks if other adults in their lives are not checking in and providing support (without waiting for the child to ask). Empathetic, sensitive and honest, this story is one that will stay with readers long after the book is finished. Scope for Imagination

While it highlights the reality of life with a parent experiencing mental health issues and the difficulties caused by child poverty, it also carries a message of hope, the value of friendship, and the courage it can take to accept help from others.  Book Trust

There are more plot details and some discussion questions here. 

This book will be available here in Australia in May 2025. Somehow a copy arrived in the Westmead Children's Hospital Book Bunker library so I borrowed it last week. The cover makes this look like a Young Adult title and indeed The Empathy Lab collection for 2025 put this book into their 12-16 book set. Other reviewers, however, say 9-11. In my view this is one of those cross over books - it will appeal to mature readers in Grade 6 but it could also be enjoyed by students in Grade 7 and 8.

Here are the 2025 Empathy list book titles:

Companion books:

The wrong shoes

Small as an Elephant

The Wrong Shoes by Tom Percival

From the opening lines of this book a reader will know this will be a story filled with raw emotions, pain and sadness but hopefully also, well, hope!

"This is no fairy tale. Not unless it's one of those really old fashioned ones, where basically a whole load of terrible stuff happens to some poor unsuspecting kid. ... But you know what? Even in those stories where people get ripped in half, chewed up and spat out, eventually there's a happy ending. And that's the difference, see? Because this is just my life, and nothing's guaranteed."

Will is a high school student. He lives with his dad who has lost his job and has been in a workplace accident. Mum left some time ago and she lives in a different part of the city with her new partner. There is no money which means there is very little food and certainly no extras - go back and read the title - Will IS wearing the wrong shoes. No, this does not mean they are not the latest fashion though of course that is true. But there is more to it. These shoes are wrong because they are old, second hand, and have a split in the sole. When it rains, and it seems to rain quite a lot in this story, Will's feet get wet. His feet are cold and Will is cold and he is also hungry. These shoes also mean he stands out at school and is an easy target for bullies and cruel comments. Will also has no school supplies, and his school bag is from years ago. His one consolation is that he loves to draw. But as the story opens Will bumps into the school bully. It is raining, his shoes are wrong and then Chris Tucker (the bully) grabs Will's bag and his precious notebook filled with drawings is thrown into a puddle. And this is only the first of a series of utterly dreadful events.

Will does have one true friend but Cameron has such different life circumstances. His family are well off. He lives in a large comfortable home, and he has plenty to eat and he has in fact just been given expensive new shoes. In an act of kindness Cameron offers his old shoes to Will, but Will cannot see this as a kindness. He thinks Cameron's offer comes from pity. Will is way too proud to accept charity and so this precious friendship is shattered.

Meanwhile Will gains some information about Chris Tucker. He sees him being recruited into a gang of older kids who commit crimes around the town such as shoplifting and probably worse. Chris suddenly changes his manner towards Will. He seems to understand what it is like to live on the 'wrong side of town'. But Will needs to be careful because Chris has his own purposes for befriending Will and before too long Will is going to find himself in a shop stealing something for Chris. 

Tom Percival does give his readers one tiny glimpse of hope early in this story when Will sees a huge and majestic owl. Later in his art class at school he draws this special creature and his art teacher pays Will a huge compliment.

"That's incredible,' says Mr Prince. 'Really, it's remarkable ...' His warm deep voice pauses ... Usually I'm about as happy to get a compliment as a cat is to be sprayed with cold water, but on this occasion I smile. He's right. It really is something special - even I can see that."

Then there is the good news about an art competition with a huge money prize but remember those opening sentences I shared at the start of this post. Perhaps real life is not actually about happy endings?

Books enable us to see into lives we have no awareness of, and they also can reflect our own situations back at us, making us feel seen. I hope that any child who reads this book and is currently struggling will take Will’s resilience, determination and hope to heart and will keep going, keep working as hard as they can to do the best that they can, despite the obvious unfairness of it all. Tom Percival in The Big Issue

You will hold your breath reading this book. In fact I had to keep putting it down and desperately hoping other terrible things would not happen to Will. I am so glad I have read this book. The writing is so powerful - I was hugely invested in Will. I wanted to help him, talk to him, comfort him and guide him to stop and think about his choices and reactions. I kept hoping he would reach out to the adults in his life - his dad (he thinks he needs to protect him); his mum and her partner; and his teachers especially his wonderful art teacher. 

Huge congratulations to Tom Percival on his first full length novel. Here is an interview with Books for Keeps. The interview says:  ‘Realistically I wanted it to be a good story, a good journey, for people to feel transported. I want them to feel Will is real, that they’ve met him and understand him a bit. I want people like Will to feel seen, for people to make an effort to understand them even if they’ve misjudged them, and I want the Wills to feel that they’re right to be angry, that things aren’t fair and shouldn’t be like that.’

I picked this book up from one of our large chain bookstores in the city. They have a display shelf as you walk into the children's book section with the new release titles. The bottom shelves are usually Middle Grade and Younger and then as you go up the shelves the titles move to Young Adult. The Wrong Shoes was on a low shelf BUT from my reading I'd like to suggest it is a Young Adult title - I would say 12+. 

It is, at times, quite a dark tale. I felt so desperately sorry for Will, and his emotional turmoil is so raw sometimes it's very moving. And yet there is always this glimmer of hope underneath. The hope of things turning out for the best in the end. The story ends in a positive manner, but gratifyingly without an unbelievable 'everything is brilliant' ending, making it a more realistic and therefore satisfying conclusion. The Bookbag (this is a fabulous review but she suggests ages 9+ but I think this book is way too confronting for that age.)

• ‘An extraordinary, powerful and moving book that has the potential to change lives.’ Hannah Gold
• ‘Every chapter is full of experience & empathy & most importantly, heart’ Phil Earle
• ‘Reading fiction is about walking in the shoes of people whose lives are very different to ours and allowing more readers to see themselves in stories. The Wrong Shoes is the perfect example of both – the right book at the right time’ Tom Palmer
• ‘A brilliant book – such a perfect marriage of words and illustrations and an important story told with real heart’ Christopher Edge
• ‘A hopeful, honest, big-hearted read. You’ll be rooting for the main character, Will, from the very first page . . .’ Clara Vulliamy

Here are some other books I recommend. They are all for readers aged 11+ but they have similar themes and tone:

The Truth as told to Mason Buttle

Shelter

A different dog

Night bus Hero

As right as rain

I recognised the author Tom Percival on the cover of The Wrong Shoes.  I really enjoyed some of his previous picture book titles:

The Invisible

The River

The Sea Saw

Herman's Letter

Mikki and me and the Out-of-tune Tree by Marion Roberts

Alberta is a keen boogie boarder. It is the Summer holidays in her small Australian coastal town. Alberta is looking forward to five weeks of freedom spent in the ocean. But, you knew I was going to say but didn't you, but Alberta, who is known as Birdy, is knocked off her bike and it is not an accident. Her arm is broken so there will be no boogie boarding for Birdy. Six weeks in a plaster cast.

Luckily Mikki Watanabe lives in her street. He has no interest in the ocean. His family, who originally come from Japan, have a beach house at Kingfisher Bay. Mikki and Birdie team up to investigate the forest area nearby and they make an amazing discovery. There is a small grove of towering pine trees. Mikki has a spiritual connection to trees. He is keen to make a video about their discovery and Birdie is equally keen to stand in front of the camera. Then they discover the council have plan to bulldoze this special area. Can their YouTube videos gain enough coverage so that this special place can be saved?

I did like the way Marion Roberts included the video chat and comments into her story along with advice from the book by Birdie's mum - Tammy's Bracken's guide to Modern Manners. I was not quite so interested in or convinced about Tammy's mental health issues and shoplifting. I really liked the community activism and the way Birdie and Mikki navigate the complexities of local government. This harks back to a very old classic Australian book - Battle of the Galah Tress by Christobel Mattingley. I also kept thinking about the television documentary made with Judi Dench "My passion for trees". 

This film follows Judi's experience through the seasons and her mission to understand the role of trees in history and the future. Judi joins tree scientists and historians to unlock the remarkable secret lives of trees and the stories that they cannot tell. With scientific techniques and equipment at her disposal, she is able to truly understand how trees work and gain an insight into their secrets. She meets a designer with a microphone to hear the trees around her, and a scientist with 3D scanning technology reveals her favourite oak in a new light.  BBC One

Marion Roberts mentions this book (for adults) as one that inspired this story:

You might also enjoy A Good Day for Climbing Trees.

This book will be published in April, 2022. Thanks to Beachside Bookshop for my advance reader copy.