Fallout by Lesley Parr

I head home to face the music, but Mam and Dad won’t care about the suspension, just about the money to replace the broken equipment. Because to them I really am bad. 

Which is just how they want me. ... you can’t trust a Pritchard. Everyone knows that. ...

In 1980 the world was thinking about the possibility of a nuclear war. Marcus discovers his neighbor, an elderly man, has built an underground shelter filled with food, comfortable furniture, a toilet and even some exercise equipment. Mick Rowlands scoffs at the official brochures which advise citizens to hide under kitchen tables - that is why he has built a way more effective shelter in his back yard but as Marcus points out how will he know when it is safe to emerge back into the world and what if everyone else has been killed.

I flick through the pages. It does look pretty stupid; all about making a fallout room and inner refuge. There’s even a drawing of a man putting a wardrobe in front of his windows – as if that’s going to stop a nuclear blast! Gavin’s window couldn’t even survive a stone from our rockery. And page seventeen is just gross. ‘People are supposed to take the bottom off a chair and poo in a bucket?’ Mick nods. ‘Not here though.’ He waves towards the bathroom. ‘All mod cons here.’ He seems really proud and, looking around this place, I think he should be. That makes me feel bad for sneaking in. Maybe I do owe him an explanation.

Marcus comes from a family of petty criminals. One brother is in jail, the other is practicing for his own life of crime and dad is planning the next big robbery. Marcus does not want to be involved but in his family there is no way to say no. His mother seems to favour his brother and because she enjoys the spoils of his fathers 'work' she is happy to go along with his plans.

Into this mix comes a girl named Emma. Emma has had a very different life. She has been home schooled, there is no television in her home, the family are vegetarians and everyone in her family is very well read. Emma herself has joined an activist group to protest about the possibility of a nuclear war - 'Give Peace a Chance' - and that is how Marcus and Emma's lives collide. 

I keep seeing this book on lists and as a recommendation on various social media platforms. The best part of this book is the tension Lesley Parr creates as we witness Marcus trying to navigate his life and right a wrong. His family are so cruel in stark contrast to the kindness and encouragement of Mick. 

This story is set in Wales so there may be some unfamiliar references for Australian readers aged 10+ but the voices in the story and the compelling narrative, where as a reader you just want Marcus to succeed against the odds of his terrible family, I think means young readers will just 'get on with reading' this book and not worry at all about occasional unfamiliar word or two.  Make sure you notice the way the chapter headings are designed:

Bookseller blurb: Marcus has one brother in a youth offender centre and the other is working with their dad on plans for their next theft. Everyone assumes Marcus will follow in their footsteps, but he has other ideas, different hopes. When a mysterious accident lands a man in hospital, it confirms what everyone in their community expects and Marcus gets the blame. He feels trapped. Only new girl Emma - with her peace protest banners and political badges - questions this story. Can they work together to clear his name – and help Marcus become the person he really wants to be?

‘Fallout’ is a truly exceptional story, with its very title reflecting how cleverly its many elements are woven together. Poignant, thought-provoking, compassionate and compelling, there are not enough adjectives to convey just how much I enjoyed it! One to put at the top of your TBR pile! Through the Bookshelf

The three characters form a genuine cross generational friendship. Historical Novel Society

Fallout is a raw, honest story of family dynamics and finding your own way. It is a reminder that we all have choices about the future but it takes real courage to be true to ourselves and turn away from those who seek to hurt us. The power of kindness shines through Emma, Mick and eventually Marcus as he learns what it feels like to be loved. Readers will be challenged to think twice before making assumptions about someone based on their family and to give everyone a second chance. Scope for Imagination

Here are some text quotes:

This is a Cold War, which, as far as I can tell, means world leaders make threats about pushing their nuclear buttons, but no one will. They just want us to think they will. And this lot have fallen for it.

In this family, we don’t get pocket money for jobs around the house, like mowing the lawn, or doing the dishes. Me and Gavin earn it by helping in other ways. For me, as the youngest, it’s mostly being a lookout when Dad and Uncle Tony are doing a deal, or on the rob. For Carl, the oldest, it ended up at the Farm School; the borstal over in the next valley.

I open it and can’t believe what I’m seeing. It’s like the TARDIS on Doctor Who. I don’t really know what I expected, but it definitely wasn’t this. I’ve seen pictures of air raid shelters from the Second World War. Glorified sheds with bunks, shelves and a heater in the corner if you were lucky, but this … this is something else. There’s a room with a double bed all made up with a flowery bedspread and pillows. And there’s a settee, and a kitchen area with a table and two chairs, a sink and cupboards and – is that a fridge? The walls are lined with shelves of books, board games and even some ornaments.

Here is another book by Lesley Parr:

The Valley of Lost Secrets

When Lightning Struck by Betsy R Rosenthal

James has lost his dad - he was killed by a lightning strike. His mum is in jail for bootlegging and she is also suffering from depression. James lives with his grandfather (Pappy) and until recently with his beloved grandmother (Abuela) but six months ago she died. Abuela was a town healer. Pappy runs the local diner and he makes delicious food for the people in the town. I loved the way James tucks into pie and hamburgers. 

There is a new kid who has moved to Odessa, Texas. He is from Ukraine and he has very little English. He is older than the kids in the class and so he is taller which is helpful for James because he is regularly tormented by a bully named Virgil and now Paul is his friend so her has someone on his side when the bullies attack. Paul's family seem very different to James. They speak a strange language (he later discovers this is Hebrew) and they observe unfamiliar customs which often include special rituals and very delicious food. They don't go to the local Christian church. 

Just before she died Abuela gave James an amulet which has a strange symbol on one side and foreign writing on the back. The Pappy shows James the family bible and it seems Abuela has a connection that goes back to 1492 when Jewish people were expelled from Spain. You can read about that in this picture book:

The Key from Spain

"Things were starting to get a little less muddy. Between the charm and the Bible with my name in it and the Hebrew writing, I felt like Abuela was sending me a message from the grave, trying to tell me that I was somebody different than I'd thought I was. And I go to wondering, too, if this news about my family's past could have something to do with me finding my purpose."

"I think your Texas Odessa is named after my Odessa because railroad workers here said this place reminded them of their home in Ukraine. ... Same name but better place for our family that Ukraine, Odessa ..."

Readers aged 10+ might gain a little more understanding about Jewish culture and the history of their persecution through this story. Paul talks about the terror his family experienced in Ukraine - a situation which has been repeated today with the Russian army. 

Our famous children's bookshop The Little Bookroom has reopened in a different location in Melbourne and I was there on their first day (not their official opening which was held two weeks later). The new owner filled several shelves with books from the previous store and marked them at 90% off the retail price and so that is how I came to find When Lightning Struck. This book was published in 2022. The ebook version is available. 

The setting for this book is Texas in 1928 but apart from references to prohibition, the Klu Klutx Klan and a few sporting heroes the parts of the story set in Texas didn't feel historical enough for me.

Here is list of other books by Betsy R Rosenthal (and there is a link to teachers notes from When Lightning Struck).

Bookseller blurb: It's 1928 in Odessa, Texas, and eleven-year-old James is struggling to find his purpose in life and to uncover a family secret. With his father struck dead by lightning and his mother in jail, he is taken in by his grandparents. Treated as a pariah at school, James is taunted as being cursed by his family's bad luck. But he finds a friend in Paul, a Russian immigrant, who is also treated as an outcast, and together, they battle the school bully. But James's life is turned upside-down yet again when he uncovers a family secret involving his beloved grandmother. His discovery leads him to find the sense of purpose he's been seeking.

Criminal Destiny Masterminds Book 2 by Gordon Korman

The first installment ended on a cliff hanger - actually they had driven over a cliff as the five, now four, kids managed their escape from Serenity. Today I read the second book in this series all in one gulp. I thoroughly enjoyed the premise and roller coaster ride of the first book but for my taste the second spent a bit too much time on recapping book one. 

I do agree with Kirkus who said of book two: Oddly paced with little payoff, this sequel falls victim to middle-volume slump.

Later this week I will dip into book three and hope all of the crazy parts of this story are somehow resolved.

So, what has happened here. Some crazy scientists masquerading as parents have set up a perfect small town. Four of the kids have discovered the truth that they are actually clones and these people are not their parents and the kids themselves ARE the experiment. What is this experiment? Is criminality inherited or acquired? These kids are clones of very dangerous criminals. The town that has been raising them has kept them completely sheltered from the outside world. Even the sports they play have been selected because they don't contain violence. All internet information is also censored.

The kids have escaped after hatching an elaborate plan - they are all criminal masterminds after all. Now they need to expose what has happened AND try to secure the release of the other kids. They decide to track down the other scientist who was part of this project but pulled out. She is a mega rich lady living several hundred miles away. They do reach her, but she won't help although luckily she does give them some money. Next the kids decide to track down one of the criminals. In a crazy scene they head back to Serenity, discover it is deserted, the find a list of their clone 'parents' in the trashed factory and set off again in another stolen car - yes I told you these kids have criminal skills even though they are only 14. 

They do find the jail, they do find the prisoner, they also find their friend Hector who they thought had died during their original getaway but of course in this roller coaster thriller nothing goes completely to plan. AND yes book two ends on another cliff hanger although this time it is not a cliff thank goodness. You can see the ending of book two from the scene on the cover!

Read more here on the author page. Here is the trailer:

This series is great for the phase between reading middle grade and young adult, so if you're a fifth, sixth, or seventh grade, this will be very enjoyable.  Ponderings of a bibliophile

Cat-and-mouse chase scenes deliver the thrills as the kids try to keep half a step ahead of their pursuers, while the sheltered escapees’ rude introduction to the outside world is rife with comedic confusion, from discovering the joy of junk food to untangling the mysteries of idiom. Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

The Same Stuff as Stars by Katherine Paterson

“It means a lot to me,” she said, “you showing me the stars.” 

“It means a lot to me,” he said, “you wanting to see them.”

Before you read this book it is essential to read the introduction but I do need to say it made me cry. Katherine Paterson visited a jail many years ago and talked to a group of inmates about her book The Great Gilly Hopkins. Here is part of her introduction:

I do know that no child makes it without at least one caring adult in his or her life. ... “What’s your name?” I asked a young man handing me his book. “Oh, it’s not for me,” he said. “It’s for my daughter. Her name is Angel.” ... I wrote this book for the many Angels in our world. I hope they find it. And I hope those of us who are more fortunate will take a wiser, more empathetic look at the Angels in our midst and remember that we all are made from the same stuff, the stuff of stars.

Angel and her brother Bernie have very difficult lives. They keep moving house, dad is in jail, and mum seems to have no idea how to care for her kids so all of that responsibility falls onto the shoulders of eleven year old Angel. In the opening scene they go to the jail to visit her dad but then we learn that this will be the last visit - not because he is being released but because Verna has decided to move on again. This time, after a long drive to a remote farm house, they end up with an elderly relative Angel vaguely remembers - this is her great grandmother and things are about to become even more difficult for Angel. 

Things that I loved about the way Katherine Paterson has written this book:

• Little Bernie always repeats important words three times - he is so used to no one listening properly to what he has to say.
• I could almost taste all the food in this book - from the disgusting to the delicious. And I desperately wanted Angel to fill a glass with milk - she shouldn't have to keep worrying that there won't be enough for her brother. Luckily they do eat some delicious popsicles. 
• The Star man is a very special character who shows his love through his kind actions even though he knows his mother has decided he does not exist. Thank goodness he leaves food and milk on her doorstep each week. Spoiler alert - his funeral will leave make you cry.
• The town library (and the school library) are so important in this story as is the beautiful librarian Miss Liza. I would love to hug her tiny, damaged body. 
• Angel should not have to take on such enormous responsibilities of care for her young brother, but it is just so special the way she is always trying to keep him safe and happy - she truly loves him.
• Angels' huge toy bear named Grizzle is almost another character in the story. I loved the way he bought comfort to the kids, but I did want someone to give him a bath. 
• Even though there are really heavy themes in this book every now and then Katherine Paterson gives her read a tiny smile moment such as when Bernie says to Angel “How come you get to choose?” “Because I’m the biggest.” “You’re always the biggest.”
• There is a reference in this story to making Maple Syrup which took me right back to another book I read this year Just Like Jackie.
• I also find an old book series called The Stupids by Harry Allard illustrated by James Marshall (1974) - I didn't realise this was a real book! Well done to Miss Liza for sharing this book with Bernie - the right book at the right time!
• Miss Liza also gives Angel a perfect book - Know the Stars by AH Ray (1962). She left the library with three books and a heart too full to speak.

Here are a few text quotes to give you a flavour of this story:

Bernie was watching entirely too much television. Angel knew about the evils of too much TV for kids. It was like getting only sugar in your mental diet—like not eating all the five major food groups. Ms. Hallingford, Angel’s fifth-grade teacher, was big on the major food groups. She’d also said TV could be a really serious hindrance in a child’s mental development, in the same way not eating right could stunt your physical growth. Angel grabbed the remote and punched the red button.

“Hurry up, and I mean both of you. I swear, sometimes you kids act like snails on Valium. . . . Get a move on, will you?” How could Angel hurry? She stared dumbly into the closet. Verna had said she could take only what fit into the green plastic suitcase that Welfare had given her last year so she wouldn’t have to carry her stuff around in a garbage bag.

It was one thing to leave your kids in an all-night diner by mistake. It was something else to leave them in the country on purpose. That would be too much like Hansel and Gretel.

Everything was going to be all right. ... She knew it, sitting on those steps eating a cherry Popsicle, a real backpack on her back with books inside waiting to be read, and groceries in all five major food groups waiting to be bought. She didn’t have anything to worry about today, and she wasn’t going to get all stressed out about tomorrow. Not while she had the chill syrupy taste of a cherry Popsicle in her mouth.

But now she knew it was true. At least in her head she knew it was a fact. All the things that had happened to her and Bernie hadn’t been their fault. She was sick and tired of thinking it was her fault when they got left at cold apartments and all-night diners and grandmas ... 

Word placement is everything - and Katherine Paterson is a master of this. Look at the highlighted words in this sentence which reveals so much about young Angel and her circumstances. She is getting ready for bed - which is the lounge room couch. She does not turn on the light because that will mean trouble from Verna, her mother: She yanked hard and lifted up the couch seat, turning it into her bed. ... Then she fumbled in the top drawer of the dresser for her nightshirt, really just one of Verna’s old T-shirts, and slipped it over her narrow shoulders.

Look at this sentence too - Angel is thinking about her responsibilities and also about the time when she first held Bernie. Katherine Paterson weaves in a reference which echoes Angels new found interest in astronomy: The thrill was long gone, but the duty had become like the sun in the solar system, the center around which all the other parts of her life revolved. Without it, she would likely fly to pieces.

The heartbreaking abandonment of Angel and her brother is sure to remind you of The Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt.

I am not very good at reading chapter headings especially in a book as good as this one where I just wanted to keep 'turning the page' so anxious for the outcome. But here are some of the chapter headings so you can see they are important and have been carefully worded by Katherine Patterson: A Is for Astronomy; The Swan; Miss Liza of the Library; Know the Stars; To School We Go; Draco the Dragon; Polaris; Consider the Heavens; Galileo Galilei; Falling Stars; Stardust to Stardust; Take Something Like a Star; Shining Stars.

A gently written tale of family caught in the most corrosive of situations, this is a story of guilt and reconciliation. Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb (from author webpage): Angel Morgan needs help. Her daddy is in jail, and her mother has abandoned Angel and her little brother, Bernie, at their great-grandmother’s crumbling Vermont farmhouse. Grandma, aged and poor, spends most of her time wrapped in a blanket by the woodstove and can’t care for the children. That’s left up to Angel, even though she is not yet twelve. In this dreary world of canned beans and peaches, of adult worries and loneliness, there is only one bright spot—a mysterious stranger who appears on clear nights and teaches Angel all about the stars and planets and constellations. Angel’s quest to carve out a new life for herself and Bernie makes for a powerful, moving story that could arise only from the keen sensitivity, penetrating sense of drama, and honed skill of master storyteller Katherine Paterson.

I follow Katherine Paterson on Facebook and a few days ago she posted an article from a US Newspaper called The Mountaineer. In their religion section the reported talked about this book - The Same Stuff as Stars - by Katherine Paterson (2002). I have read lots of her books but not this one. I shared this with my friend and she hadn't read it either so we have both decided to find and read The Same Stuff as Stars. I added it to my Kindle library and read the whole book in one day - yes, it is that good - a completely engrossing story filled with heartbreak and deep honesty.

Here is part of the newspaper article (in case the link requires a subscription):

Newbery and National Book Award honored writer Katherine Paterson (“Bridge to Terabithia,” “Jacob Have I Loved”) illustrates this in her powerful, yet bittersweet, young adult novel “The Same Stuff as Stars.” I encourage you to find a copy and enter a story that broadens your understanding of what it’s like to live in childhood poverty and to wish for words of approval — to know you are beloved when you are abandoned and feel worthless. We all need to be needed. The story also captures the vastness of the universe in which we live. ...

Now that I hope I have convinced you to read this book you will have to visit a library or read the ebook version as it is now sadly out of print (published 2002) and I couldn't find any suppliers but here is the paperback ISBN [9780544540309] just in case you have another way of searching. 

After reading this book you need to find this title by Peter Sis:

Read more here

You might also want to read the full poem: “Take Something Like a Star” from The Poetry of Robert Frost.

Companion books:

Ruby on the Outside

Alternate title The Faraway Truth

Something like home

Ruby on the Outside by Nora Raleigh Baskin

And the truth is I’ve never had a real friend. A best friend, not just a condo friend. 

I think, partly it’s because of my secret-keeping. I think the thing about having a best friend is that you don’t have any secrets, at least not from each other. 

Most girls I know, and even boys I know, have one really, really important friend 

that rises above all the others who are just regular friends.

When Ruby was just five years old her mum left her at home alone late at night. Mum has gone with her new husband and stepdad to Ruby to rob a convenience store. Guns were involved, the man fled but mum stayed beside the dying teenager. Jump forward six years and Ruby now lives with her aunt and they make a weekly visit to the prison. Ruby was so young when all this happened, but she has fragments of memory. More than this, though, she deeply misses her mother. She names her aunt Matoo - meaning second mum. Ruby learns it is best to keep all of this a secret, so she lives two lives - Ruby on the outside and Ruby on the inside. Mum will be in prison for 25 years and so Ruby will be aged 31 when she is released.

Ruby works hard to be a 'good student' and to make sense of the world. She has one friend a girl named Kristin but even Ruby knows this girl is not really a true friend. Over the summer Ruby meets Margalit and it seems she might have found that longed for true friend but navigating a friendship is new territory for Ruby and she is terrified she will 'mess it up'. 

I started this book yesterday on a bus trip and completed it this morning. I already knew some of the plot which at first distracted me but then I reached the best plot twist ever! I cannot spoil this but all my worry about Ruby and her precious new friendship evaporated.

Bookseller blurb: Ruby's mom is in prison, and to tell anyone the truth is to risk true friendship in this novel that accurately and sensitively addresses a subject too often overlooked-from the author ofThe Summer Before Boys. Eleven-year-old Ruby Danes is about to start middle school, and only her aunt knows her deepest, darkest, secret: her mother is in prison. Then Margalit Tipps moves into Ruby's condo complex, and the two immediately hit it off. Ruby thinks she's found her first true-blue friend-but can she tell Margalit the truth about her mom? Maybe not. Because it turns out that Margalit's family history seems closely connected to the very event that put her mother in prison, and if Ruby comes clean, she could lose everything she cares about most.

Hopefully your students who read this book will not have had the same experience of weekly visits to a prison or correctional facility or jail but sadly this is a reality for some children. I used to be a Teacher-Librarian in a town with a maximum security jail. There are parts of this story that will break your heart but I promise the ending will help heal it. 

Here are some text quotes to give you a flavour of this heartfelt first person narrative.

We put all our belongings in a locker, showed our IDs. But we still had to go through all the security: the metal detectors, the wand search, the hand stamp, the gated doors, the big black bars, the hand stamp check, the sign-in, more bars, and finally we got to the visitors’ room where we were assigned to a table.

So lying in the dark, I try to smile. I force my mouth to turn up at the corners. I think I am smiling and I wonder what my mother is doing. She is in her cell by now, the steel bars pulled shut and locked. Maybe she is asleep. Maybe she is thinking about me. I try to smile but I feel the wetness leaking out of my eyes and dripping down my cheeks onto my pillow. I miss my mother so much.

I’m sure it’s raining in Bedford Hills, too, and that thought comes into my head but I know if my mother is in her cell, she can’t see it. I wonder if she can hear it. I wonder if there are other ways to know if it’s raining. Can she hear it? Do the COs come into work and talk about the weather? What is it like not to see the sky when you wake up in the morning?

I rack my brain. I consider every possibility for how to live with this terrible truth and not lose my very first, very best friend. For a crazy second, I want to call my mom—which, of course, I know I can’t do—like I used to when I was little. I want her to put her arms around me and make everything all right. Or at least tell me what to do. And then I realize my mother can’t fix anything. Because she’s the one who broke it.

The officer behind the glass stamps my hand with an invisible stamp. Today it is the right hand. Yesterday must have been left. I am not sure why they switch it every day, but I am sure it has something to do with preventing the prisoners from getting out. Or the wrong people from coming in. ... Here there is a little machine that you have to put your hand under and suddenly, there it is, the glowing stamp they just put on your skin. I used to think that was so cool, so magical. Not anymore.

Visitors are not allowed to wear green, but that’s not a problem for me. I’ve made sure I don’t own one green thing. Not a shirt, or a sweater, a sweatshirt, or pants. Not even green socks.

A deeply compassionate exploration of an experience underrepresented in children’s literature but overrepresented in the real world. Kirkus

Australian readers may not be familiar with the game Ruby plays with her friend - carrom. It is a board game. Read more here. Also, you will want to read one of my favourite books - Sarah, Plain and Tall. 

Here are some other books I have read with jail settings:

A Wish in the dark

The Warden's Daughter

Born Behind Bars

All Rise for the Honorable Perry T Cook

From the desk of Zoe Washington (The Faraway Truth)

Raven Winter by Susanna Bailey

Billie and her mum have moved out of the family home because dad has been sent to jail following a crime involving money (sounds like a white-collar crime). Now mum has found a new partner but he is a horrible and aggressive man who holds an enormous amount of power over her mum. He has excluded their friends and he demands the house be kept spotlessly clean. He has 'hidden' all of her dad's possessions in the garage. Dad loved the outdoors and especially birds and he and Billie share a very special bond and so Billie desperately misses him and she is sure he has no idea that they have moved. She is also certain mum and dad can get back together and that dad can help mum understand Daniel is dangerous. 

Billie decides she needs to find her dad and this decision becomes even more urgent when she discovers letters from her dad hidden in a box under her mum's bed. When she first leaves home she finds a young raven with an injured wing. She abandons her plan and smuggles him into her room. Luckily this is the week Daniel is not home because he is a long-distance truck driver. For her second attempt to run away she decides to look in those boxes in the garage. Daniel is away again and she wants to find her dad's bird books but just as she is unpacking the boxes Daniel arrives home. His violent reaction is utterly terrible. So now Billie really does have to go. But how? Her new friend Nell has accidentally offered the perfect way to do this and Billie now has to stowaway as Nell and her grandmother drive to a market near where dad has been staying. 

Blurb: Ever since Billie’s kind and nature-loving dad went to prison, her life has lost its shine. And now, Mum’s new boyfriend has moved in and home is full of sharp-glass silences. Billie’s never felt more alone. Until one day she discovers an injured young raven and in nursing him back to life, Billie finds friendship, hope and a letter that might bring her one step closer to reuniting with Dad. Raven Winter is the story of friendship, family and the belief in a very special relationship with a young raven set against the beautiful and the wintery backdrop of the Yorkshire Dales.

This is a harrowing story, but I was sure Susanna Bailey would provide a happy ending or at least the glimpse of a better future so I kept reading Raven Winter even though at times I just had to stop, walk away and take a breath. This is a book for a very mature reader aged 11+ and not recommended for sensitive readers. Read a text sample here. 

Raven Winter does suggest domestic abuse and a parent who is absent due to being in jail – tough topics – but I think it is done sensitively and gently. ...  The bigger theme of the book in my view though is how children can find comfort in nature, how non-judgmental animals can help a child who feels alone, and how caring for someone or something outside of themselves, can be cathartic. Julia's Books

There are many strands to this powerful story and binding them together is a celebration of nature and its power to heal: what the author has achieved is a fine balance between sadness and beauty. Not everything is resolved but father and daughter are reunited and there’s hope for the future. There’s also a reassuring message to any reader in a situation similar to Billie about the importance of going to a trusted adult for help. Red Reading Hub

Companion books:

Dragon Skin

The Star outside my window

Here are other books by Susanna Bailey

Fly Me Home by Polly Ho-Yen

In 2017 one of our large chain book stores added this book to their shelves and there it languished until May 2024 when I picked it up for 50% off the original price. SO, I wondered why no one had bought this book? The cover is okay - not very striking but not unappealing. I do know Polly Ho-Yen and I have read three of her previous books but perhaps her name was not a familiar one here in Sydney. The blurb is certainly enticing:

Feeling lost and alone in a strange new city, Leelu wishes she could fly away back home – her real home where her dad is, thousands of miles away. London is cold and grey and the neighbours are noisy and there’s concrete everywhere. But Leelu is not alone; someone is leaving her gifts outside her house – wonders which give her curious magical powers. Powers which might help her find her way home . . .

Polly Ho-Yen does not tell us where Leelu has come from, but we do discover the reason for her father's absence and knowing this you can surmise she has come from Nigeria or another African country where (spoiler alert) same sex relationships are banned. But these themes are not revealed until Chapter 42. Her father has been protesting against these laws.

Leelu and her family move to a new city and a flat in a very poor part of the city. Outside their flat there is a constant pile of rubbish. Mum has to work at night and so Leelu and her older brother Tiber stay home but then Tiber falls into bad company, leaving the house at night to meet up with a street gang so now Leelu (her real name Lillian Elvira Olawale) is left home alone. The neighbours on one side are a huge noisy family of young boys and one little girl named Betsy. Betsy becomes a wonderful friend to Leelu. School is a terrible experience. We are not told explicitly but it is clear Leelu has learning difficulties. Every task is confusing and impossible and so she just stops talking. In fact all the kids at school thing she is unable to speak. 

Early after their arrival at their new flat Leelu finds a small treasure near the garbage bins. When mum says she will toss a coin to decide who claims the bed near the window Leelu rubs her treasure in her pocket and wishes, wishes, wishes she will 'win' the bed so she can see the moon and know her dad is looking at the same moon too. The treasure works! But how? And where did this come from? On subsequent days she finds more tiny treasures - a walnut, an acorn, some moss in a match box and a pinecone. Each one works but only once. The Leelu meets the other neighbour - an eccentric man whose home is filled with objects just like her treasures.

He has a strange way of talking and never seems to directly answer her questions but along with Betsy, Leelu is sure she has found a special friend. Especially as thing are becoming desperate, and she has no idea when her dad will come, and her brother is clearly in trouble and then mum gives up her job and the landlord wants his rent - now!

Here are a few phrases by Bo:

"Heads, shoulders, needs, and toes"; "Of course, a horse, of course"; "I am trying to do something quite splentacular"; "And then it might be too late. Tick tock, tick tock."

Check out my labels for this post - if your school has issues with the themes of same sex marriage then this might not be the right book for your library. I loved the magical realism, the quirky voice of Bo (the man next door) and the way Polly Ho-Yen paints a picture of the cold and dirty city. Some reviewers and booksellers list this book for 9-12 but I am going to say mature readers 11+. Even though it was published in 2017 this book is still available or you might find it in a library. 

Here are other books by Polly Ho-Yen:

How I saved the world in a week

Two Sides

The boy who grew a tree

Mary Underwater by Shannon Doleski

I mentioned this book was on my November and December reading pile. I only just picked it up last night (it is January) and I finished in today - YES it is that good.  This story is confronting but it is also a gentle story of first love and somehow those tender scenes balance out the horrible violence by Mary's father.

Mary's father has been in jail. This means things are slightly less fraught at home but as the story opens he has been released and Mary knows things will soon turn bad - very bad. Her father is a violent man and he takes his anger out on his wife and daughter. Every day, every single day, Mary lives in fear of what this man might do to her. This means her school work is suffering. The nuns in her Catholic school have noticed and social workers are involved but Mary is desperate not to be sent to foster care. 

The science teacher sets a group assignment and a boy in Mary's seventh grade class, Kip Dwyer, asks to be her partner. Together they build a model submarine but that is only the beginning. Mary wants to do something bigger, something more heroic like her personal hero Joan of Arc. Mary also wants to escape from her father.

Interspersed through the book are extracts about Joan of Arc and her amazing life. 

Kip and Mary, with the help of new friends, work together to build a real submarine. This part does seem rather fanciful but I did find it quite fascinating (Ms Yingling agrees). Especially since I recently read another book about life in a submarine. (The Reindeer and the Submarine by Beverley McWilliams)

Here are some text quotes from Mary Underwater:

"He leans over and pulls me up by my hands. He doesn't drop them, and my palm is pressed warm against his. So warm. We are glued together. ... "Can I hold your hand when we walk back?' I nod because I don't trust myself to talk. He can."

"I panic, jumping up. After midnight with the boy I, well, I don't know. The boy I like. That seems dangerous. Handing him my heart, the one beating wildly against my ribs, seems dangerous."

"You deserve kindness, just like everyone else in this world. You're just not used to it ... You are worthy, Mary.' 'Worthy of what?' My heart feels like it's been split open. ... 'Everything , honey. Happiness. Love. You deserve it all. Your parents forgot to tell you that."

A ruggedly heartwarming tale of resilience and romance. Kirkus

The violence balanced against hope and the importance of terrific friends that are explored in this book reminded me of this wonderful Australian book:

Dragon Skin

I do not want you to worry about the domestic violence in Mary Underwater but I do wish the cover was a little less junior looking. I suggest this is a Young Adult book for readers aged 12+. The violence is truly terrible but the tenderness of first love is utterly beautiful. Here is the moment of their first kiss:

"I kiss Kip Dwyer on the mouth. And it is a little messy. But. It is starry nights on a bridge. And fireworks. Warm hugs on porches. It is floating and flying and drifting. It is perfect."

Here is the web site for US author Shannon Doleski. There is a link to hear the author read her first chapter. 

Just a quick note about my blog goals. In 2022 I completed 405 posts. I did have a goal of 4000 posts by the end of 2024 but I think I might need to extend this out to 2025. As of today I have had 896986 hits on my blog (nearly made the million - I am amazed) and 2786 posts. I've been visiting an older lady this week and today she asked me if I was famous - so funny - but I do hope you find my blog musings, and book choices useful what ever your circumstances - teacher, Teacher-Librarian, parent or even perhaps author. Thanks for dipping into my blog from time to time. Huge thanks to the people (including some amazing authors) who drop by with comments - these make my heart sing. 

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña illustrated by Christian Robinson

"These monthly train rides are never ending, and as usual, Milo is a shook-up soda. Excitement stacked on top of worry, on top of confusion, on top of love."

Milo and his sister are on the subway train in New York City. To pass the time Milo draws sketches in his drawing book. He observes the people who board the train and then draws imaginary scenes which show where each of these people might be going. The business man who is working on a crossword puzzle might be heading home to his fifth floor apartment where his only friends are his cats, some resident rats and his cage of parakeets. Next on board is a young boy in a suit. His hair is neat and his shoes are bright white. Perhaps this boy is a prince heading home to his castle where the butler waits with a plate of "crust-free sandwich squares". A bride steps onto the train. Milo draws her wedding scene in the cathedral and then he imagines the happy couple flying away in a hot air balloon. 

Milo and his sister finally reach their destination. Milo is amazed to see the boy in the suit in the same line. Where are they?

Milo's "even more surprised when the boy joins the long line to pass through the metal detector".

Mum is wearing an orange jump suit. A few pages back we that mum reads Milo bedtime stories over the phone. Near the beginning of this book we read Milo and his sister make this trip each month. 

This book is clearly set in New York City. This is especially evident when a group of break dances jump into the train carriage. People like this are called pan handlers. They ride the train for a stop or two then, after passing around their hat, they jump off the train and board another one. At the same time this is a universal story of hope and family. You might be thinking not many of the children in our classes or library groups would have a parent in jail but my former school was in a town with a maximum security jail and so this is a book which some of those children would certainly relate to.  And for other children this book provides a gentle way to discuss the lives of children who live in very different circumstances. 

Christian Robinson lived with his grandmother as a child because for most of his childhood his mother was in jail. "As a kid, of course, not having my my mother there was painful, certainly, but probably even more painful thing was holding on to that experience myself and internalising it and feeling disconnected, not having that connection with others. So I think this book has the potential to be healing, to create conversations, to create empathy and compassion."

There is also the important message in this book about the way we do judge people by their appearance. Milo discovers this is not necessarily true and his innocent assumptions about the people on the train may need to be revised. We are lucky to see his new ideas as he fills his drawing book with a new set of pictures.

"Maybe you can't really know anyone just by looking at their face".

Take a few minutes to listen Matt and Christian talking about their very personal connections with the story in this book. Here is the trailer from Penguin Kids. You can see art from this book at Seven Impossible Things before Breakfast. 

This book is:

Smart and sweet - School Library Journal

A memorable, thought-provoking story poised to make a difference for many. Kirkus Star review

This is the book that I continue to think about long after I’ve put it down or read it to my kids. School Library Journal There are three bonus videos on this site too. 

This poignant, thought-provoking story speaks volumes for how art can shift one’s perspectives and enable an imaginative alternative to what is…or seems to be. Horn Book

... this sweet but never saccharine story is a classic in the making. BookPage

In this post I have revealed Milo's destination but I am so happy the back cover blurb does not give away the 'secret' in this book.  Milo Imagines the World is also on the 2022 shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal.

This is the third book in a series by Matt de la Peña and Christian Robinson:

Carmen full of Wishes

You could compare this book with I am the Subway by Kim Hyo-eun.  With a group of older students you could also look at this wordless book from Canada:

Born behind bars by Padma Venkatraman

You might like to begin with my discussion of The Bridge Home also by Padma Venkatraman. Born Behind Bars is not a sequel but it has the same setting and themes. 

Kabir has spent his whole life in jail. In the months before he was bor,n his mother was accused of theft from the house where she worked as a maid. A new warden arrives and Kabir, who only nine years old, is sent out alone to live in the community. A man arrives at the jail claiming to be Kabir's uncle but he is one of the people another jail inmate - Grandma Knife - has warned him about:

"All I know it your mother's a good judge of character - and that's a gift she passed on to you. So if something doesn't feel right, trust yourself and run as fast as that mouse."

When the man tries to sell Kabir - he runs away and luckily his running takes him to Rani. Rani is another street kid. She is wise. She is kind. She is a survivor. With her help Kabir now needs to find his grandparents and then find a way to set his mother free.

This compelling novel develops at a brisk pace, advanced by evocative details and short chapters full of action.  A gritty story filled with hope and idealism. Kirkus Star review

This is a story about finding where you belong, the wonder of family, and the desperation of so many children on the streets of India.  Here's our chance to walk in someone else's shoes, to be grateful for our good fortune, and perhaps to ask the question, "How can we help?" A book and a hug

Hear the author read an extract from her book here. In this interview Padma talks to Nerdy Book Club. In this video (4 minutes) Colby Sharp talks about Born Behind Bars.  He says, and I agree wholeheartedly, "I love all of the white space."  It makes this book so easy to read. In this video Padma reads the first page of her book. 

Companion reads:

The Warden's Daughter

A Cardboard Palace - Young Adult book

Girl of the Southern Sea