Tag: current issues

Book cover for review shows a young boy in a shabby black suit standing amongst a crowd of people against a light blue background. The people are silhouetted in blue, green, and white, with no facial details, causing the boy to stand out. Above is the title 'The Boy in the Suit' in large letters.
Book Reviews

The Boy in the Suit | Book Review

Kim

By James Fox (Scholastic, 2024)

I pulled again on Morag’s wrist, so hard I felt my veins popping out of my forehead. Why couldn’t they just let her go? I wished Morag and I had the power to turn invisible. I wanted us to run away and forget all about this stupid funeral.

That’s when the camera flashed. Bright white, right in our faces. “Oh dear,” a man’s voice sneered. It was the newspaper photographer from earlier. “What’s going on here, then?”

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Drawn to Change the World book cover for review; cover is orange, with a white circle with the title in the middle. Emanating from the circle are petal shapes, each featuring the drawing of a different youth activist. The orange background features more drawings, in a darker orange. At the bottom, the tagline says "16 Youth Climate Activists, 16 Artists".
Book Reviews

Drawn to Change the World | Book Review

Kim

By author Emma Reynolds and various illustrators listed at the end of the review (published by HarperAlley, September 2023)

This book is not about putting the sole responsibility on young people’s shoulders to fix this crisis. It’s about celebrating the activists who are doing incredible things, and encouraging whoever is reading this book that you can make a difference too, no matter your age. You are not too old, and you are not too young, to begin.

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The Song Walker book cover for review; a white ship faces us in the middle of a blue-green sea. Closer to us, a white whale leaps up on either side of the ship, while behind the mast rises a large snow tern, its wings reaching up into the dark green sky. The title is in gold, and flanked with gold lines forming a semi-circle. In the sky behind the ship, there is the shadow of a tiger's face.
Book Reviews

The Song That Sings Us | Book Review for Older Readers

Kim

By Nicola Davies (published by Firefly Press)

The sounds of hard breathing and the scrunch of footfalls enclose them as they run. There are shouts behind, voices yelling orders, more shots. Harlon gives Xeno and Ash a stream of small orders and encouragements to stop them thinking.

In Harlon’s head, her ma’s voice speaks.

When you are in danger, the most dangerous thing is to wish you weren’t. Accept the reality of danger, then you can survive it.

Climb, she tells herself. Get away.

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The cover for the book Tyger for review, showing a close-up of the Tyger's face looking straight at the viewer with orange eyes, surrounded by orange, black and white striped fur.
Book Reviews

Tyger | Book Review

Kim

Written by S.F. Said, illustrated by Dave McKean (published by David Fickling Books)

‘Nothing is ordinary,’ said the tyger. ‘Everything is extraordinary. In all of infinity and eternity, that flower exists only in this world; this precise position in space and time. Everywhere else, there is a different flower, or no flower at all. And the same is true of you. Nothing special? You are miraculous beyond measure, both of you.’

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Zeina Starborn Sky Whale review
Book Reviews

Zeina Starborn and the Sky Whale | Review

Lynda

By Hannah Durkan (published by Hachette Children’s Group)

‘Who … Who are you?’

This made Zeina bristle. He had seen her just as many times as she had seen him and yet he had no idea who she was. This was just like Aboves; people like Zeina were merely part of the scenery – completely forgettable.

‘Who am I? NOBODY, that’s who!’ She knew she could get into trouble for talking to him this way. After all, he was technically her father’s employer.

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The Boy I Am review book cover
Book Reviews

The Boy I Am | Young Adult Book Review

Kim

By K.L. Kettle (published by Little Tiger)

No. Focus on the Chancellor. I bow, full charm turned up, squeezing down the fear in my gut. This is about you, Vik.

The Chancellor’s sweet, slow tones offer her reserve. “One merit,” she says.

The silence is loud enough: no one’s going to outbid her.

I think the woman I’m meant to kill may have just saved my life.

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Night Bus Hero cover review
Book Reviews

The Night Bus Hero | Book Review

Kim

By Onjali Q. Raúf (published by Orion Children’s Books, an imprint of Hachette Children’s Group)

I waited for him to shout and scream. But he didn’t. Instead, he took off his yellow hat and his shoulders began to shake. That was how I knew that he was crying.

‘How could you do that?’ asked a voice from behind me.

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Book Reviews

The Closest Thing to Flying | Book Review

Kim

By Gill Lewis (published by Oxford University Press)

Semira looked behind her as if she felt someone was watching her. A diary was personal wasn’t it? Private?

But surely if it had been written over a hundred years ago, the writer of the diary would be dead by now.

It wouldn’t matter if she read some of it.

Would it?

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